#sirius' response was supposed to be up but then i started editing the post to add things and now its in the drafts sdfdsfsdfsd | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fanfictionaries · 4 years ago

Text

The Seduction of Sirius Black - Part 1

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Sirius Black

Summary:

Hermione loves her boyfriend, but there’s just one little problem -- she’s hopelessly attracted to Sirius Black.

Warnings: Swearing, Smut/18+ NSFW, Angst, Ron bashing (sorry)

Author’s Note: Posting some old stuff! Honestly, editing it has been a nice lead back into really writing. Very cathartic!

Also, apologies for the Ron bashing in this story. I know it’s a stupid trope and to a certain extent I really enjoy Ron as a character, buuuuut I’m using it as a cheap way to move plot.

ALSO, this is obviously a AU where Sirius didn’t die in the Department of Mysteries.

ALSO (and this is the last one I swear), I AM a big fan of Wolfstar but I also have daddy issues and find Sirius Black extremely attractive and this is my tumblr so I can write the stories I want I guess. Haha Not to mention, Sirius Black gives BIG bisexual energy.

MASTERLIST

***

Hermione didn’t really know when it had happened – this attraction to Sirius Black. It wasn’t as if she had woken up one day with the sudden urge to jump across the table and shag the older wizard into the next life. The whole thing had occurred much more gradually than that, she supposed. However, despite all of the trivial aspects of her…situation, Hermione chose instead to focus purely on the fact that he was entirely off limits. For many reasons. There was no way anyone in her close-knit circle of friends would be okay with her becoming entangled with a man more than twice her age and who also happened to be her best friend’s god father. It would be unacceptable. It would be impractical. Most of all it would be highly inappropriate as she was currently dating her other best friend, Ronald Weasley.

She supposed the attraction was inevitable to a certain degree. At the beginning, nearly a year and half ago, things like physical attraction were far from her mind. She’d just started her new position at the Ministry, Harry and Ron were training to be Aurors, the war had just come to an end and thus her life was a whirlwind of people and places. But over time things slowed down. Ronald was stationed away on official Auror business more and more often, leaving very little time for him to visit her and when he did come back, he had to split his time between her and his large family. Harry, having waited for Ginny to finish her final year at Hogwarts, had gone and married her the summer after and for all intents and purposes abandoned her. Harry…

It was really all Harry’s fault. Or at least that’s what Hermione liked to think whenever she felt her heart skip and her pulse slip between her thighs in Sirius Black’s presence. It had been Harry’s idea for Hermione to move into Grimmauld Place with him and Sirius after the war. Family, it seemed, had taken an important role in everyone’s lives when Lord Voldemort fell for the final time. All of the Weasley children had moved back to their childhood home of the Burrow – even Charlie much to everyone’s great surprise and delight. Tonks and Remus moved in with her mother and father, Andromeda and Theodore, to bask in the cheer of their newborn baby Teddy. And Harry had moved in with Sirius. Everyone had felt the need to be closer than ever to the ones that they loved, and Hermione completely understood that need. In fact, if she had had a family to go to, she would have moved in with them as well. But her parents were still in Australia somewhere, the location even unknown to herself as she’d designed it that way. Harry, being fully aware of this fact, insisted that she move in with him and Sirius. Hermione had been fully prepared to get her own flat in London. But after a bit of prodding she’d accepted Harry’s offer, secretly grateful that her best friend was so kind and thoughtful. Now, she probably cursed him name at least five times a day.

Hermione had been happy for him and Ginny when they announced their engagement. She’d cried not only when Ginny asked her to be her maid of honor, but also when the two had said their ‘I do’s. However, Harry moved out of Grimmauld Place following their marriage and subsequently left her to live with Sirius Black all by herself. So now she sat in the quaint little kitchen of the Black home, sipping her morning tea, and trying incredibly hard to keep her attention on her book rather than glance up at the rugged wizard sitting across from her.

“Hmpf” Sirius let out the little sound of surprise before continuing, “Would you look at that. Sources say that while Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, announces no final decisions have been made in regard to the recent Magical Creature Equality Act proposed last month, there are certain voices in the Ministry that are persuading not only the members of the Wizengamot, but the Minister himself to vote yes for magical creature equality.” He read the words aloud, peaking over his paper at her and raising his eyebrows. “I wonder who those certain voices or voice is…” he mused humorously.

It was no secret that shortly after being appointed a position in the Ministry department of Magical Creatures, Hermione had gone about being a personal activist for Magical Creature rights. Merlin, she had written almost the entire Act herself. Her hand still cramped at the thought of the hours she spent in her office and the library at Grimmauld Place scribbling away with her quill.

“No idea,” Hermione responded, feigning ignorance but blushing all the same in embarrassment. She kept her eyes on the pages of her book but found no matter how many times she read and reread the same paragraph she couldn’t retain it. Slowly her eyes shifted to the man in front of her. His gaze was fixed on the paper and so she was free to take him in. He had just showered, his wavy brown hair hanging damp to his shoulders. It made him look, in her opinion, especially delectable that morning. Hermione felt herself blush even deeper at the lewd thoughts threatening to enter her mind before looking back down at her book and scolding herself.

“So, when is Ronald coming for a visit again? Need me to clear off any time soon?” Sirius asked, sparking up conversation after the long bout of silence.

“Unfortunately, he won’t be back till next month,” she sighed, ignoring the second half of Sirius’s question.

“Well that’s not too bad I suppose—” Sirius smiled warmly and set down his paper as he stood up “—It gives you plenty of time to focus on getting the Ministry on board with your Act before you’re…distracted.” Sirius added the last part with a teasing implication not lost on Hermione.

“My Act?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly as she stood up as well and took her teacup to the sink. She grabbed the sponge to begin washing up when Sirius took it from her hand.

“I can do the washing up. You’re going to be late for work. Besides, it’s not like I work or anything. Might as well do something productive today,” he stated dryly, turning on the tap.

“Hmm, yes. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. You’ve become quite the lay-about. When are you going to get a job and start contributing to the household?” Hermione asked cheekily.

“Lay-about? Need I remind you that this is my house that you live in, rent free. You’re lucky a kind old man like me has taken a liking to you, or you’d be on the streets, kitten,” Sirius said, flicking some water off his fingertips in her direction.

“More like taken pity on me—” Hermione shook her head “—and you’re far from an old man, Sirius. I swear, you’d like people to think you’re closer to eighty than twenty!” She exited the kitchen and slipped into her heels next to the front door.

“Mind picking up some milk on your way home, kitten? We’re almost out!” Sirius called out to her, ignoring her statement on his age. Hermione tried not to focus on the way her stomach flipped in response to Sirius using his nickname for her for a second time that morning.

“Sure thing!” she called back before exiting the front door and apparating the moment she hit the sidewalk.

Hermione found it very difficult to work that day. The summer heat had become abysmal, proving to be quite the sticky, humid season, and of course that meant the Ministry’s cooling charms were on the fritz. By the time the day was over, Hermione’s hair had grown three times its size. Catching her reflection in a Ministry window, Hermione had gasped at its state. Even she hadn’t known it could get that big. In addition, her silk blouse that she had tucked into a polyester pencil skirt had become damp and uncomfortable from the sweat that accumulated on her body throughout the day. And even after casting multiple drying spells to herself and her clothes, there was still nothing she could do about her hair. To add to her physical discomfort, she also struggled with a mental discomfort as well. Ron had been plaguing her mind all day long.

Ronald Weasley. Her oldest friend, now boyfriend. It hadn’t been a shock to anyone when they had gotten together after the war had ended. It had almost been expected in fact. She’d liked him since third year and aside from his short tryst with Lavender Brown, it had been obvious they would be together. Hermione loved Ron, she really did, but he was gone so often. Gone often and when he was home things felt…off. His affection seemed to have waned and Hermione was left thinking that perhaps it had something to do with her. Every time he chose to kiss her cheek as opposed to her lips or pat her leg friendly instead of holding her hand Hermione felt a little blow to her confidence. Bitterly she thought of how he and Lavender had been all over each other sixth year. She certainly wouldn’t enjoy having Ron’s tongue shoved down her throat in broad daylight, but surely, it’d be nice to have him show a bit of affection. In the beginning he’d been much more enthusiastic. They would often sneak off for a cheeky snog and hands often lingered under tables. They’d even gone all the way. It had been romantic and sweet, and Ron had certainly enjoyed himself. Or at least she thought he had. But now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe she’d been rubbish at it and he didn’t know how to tell her. Maybe he just didn’t find her attractive anymore. She had put on a bit of weight in the past year and a half. Hermione figured it was for the best as she was no longer starving to death on the run from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But now when she looked in the mirror her eyes focused for too long on the swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the thickness of her thighs, and the softness of her stomach.

Despite this possibility, Hermione couldn’t help but feel guilty about her lustful thoughts involving Sirius. She often tried to reason with herself that it was perfectly normal to feel such base emotions. Everyone had them and as long as she didn’t act on them, she was fine. She was just lonely, and Sirius was there.

Resolving to speak with Ron about her concerns when he returned in a week, Hermione shook the troubling thoughts from her head and continued down Diagon Alley, intending to just pop by the small corner store at the end for some milk and maybe some ice-cream for later. She needed a small pick-me-up after the day she’d had. Jogging the last few steps to the corner store, Hermione pulled open the heavy door and sighed happily as the cooling charms inside enveloped her. She wiped her forehead with her arm and headed to the back of the store where the freezer section was. The store was practically deserted aside from a single witch staring at the ice pops with a heavy look of concentration. Hermione walked up next to her to stare at the ice-cream choices and smiled when she spotted the Rocky Road. It was Ron’s favorite.

“It’s a scorcher out there, innit?” commented the witch, her thick London accent coming through endearingly sweet. Hermione looked to her left and took in the girl. She was thin and tan with beautiful golden hair tied up into a long ponytail. She had a friendly, heart-shaped face and sparkly green eyes. Something about her seemed familiar – Hermione must have seen her somewhere before.

“I’m practically melting,” agreed Hermione, shaking her head, and grabbing the Rocky Road, thinking she would have that tonight rather than her usual Mint Chocolate-Chip.

“Any fun plans for the heat?” the pretty blonde asked casually, grabbing a box of grape ice pops and a carton of Rocky Road ice-cream as well.

“Not really. Probably just go home and cast as many cooling charms as possible—” Hermione crinkled her nose and quirked the corner of her mouth in a wry grin “—Yourself?”

“Me and my boyfriend are planning a nice night in. He’s just got back from assignment with the Ministry. He’s an Auror, so we’re doing a bit of celebrating before he has to go back.” The girl smiled, her voice heavy with adoration.

“How nice! My boyfriend’s an Auror as well.”

“Really?” the girl asked, eyes lighting up.

“Yes, he’s actually away on assignment right now. I wonder if they know—” Hermione had been about to ask if perhaps their respective partners were familiar with each other when a voice called out from the end of the aisle.

“Babe, they didn’t have the crisps you like, but—” Basket hanging from one hand and a bag of Salt and Vinegar crisps in the other, Ron stopped dead in his tracts at the sight of Hermione. His eyes grew wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “’Mione?”

Hermione stared back too, but unlike Ron she was unable to find her voice. Instead she just stared. Ron was back from assignment? Why hadn’t he told her? What was he doing there? Why was he calling this girl babe when—

“Wait—‘Mione? As in Hermione Granger?” the witch asked, taking a step back from Hermione and towards Ron. She looked at Hermione with wide, incredulous eyes. “Oh my gosh, I feel so foolish. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

Hermione looked on in confusion as she watched the witch hook her arm in Ron’s and smile politely back at her.

“Hermione,” Ron said her name again, but Hermione was too busy taking the two of them in. She felt like an absolute fool. The carton of Rocky Road slipped from her fingers and landed on the linoleum floor of the shop with a dull thud. Then, in a panic, Hermione turned on the spot and fled, hearing Ron’s call after her mix with a small ‘Oh my’ from the pretty blonde witch.

There were a million places Hermione could have gone. There were a million places Hermione should have gone. All of them much better choices than the seedy little muggle bar she found just outside of Diagon Alley. She should have gone home. Or to Harry. Or to Ginny. The smart choice was to tell someone what had happened and to talk it out. But instead, she spent the next four hours doing her best to get well and truly pissed. Drinking wasn’t like Hermione and certainly the first glass of whiskey had been hard to get down. But she found after the first two, she hardly tasted the biting liquid anymore and the dulling effect of the alcohol was just so nice.

It was just past ten in the evening when Hermione left the bar, tipping this way and that way in her heels and feeling exceptionally light-headed. The night had cooled down and the sun had just set, allowing Hermione to feel some semblance of relief as she walked down the street to a nearby alleyway. It probably wasn’t the best idea to apparate when she was so inebriated, but Hermione wasn’t really thinking in that moment. She just knew she didn’t want to walk. Thankfully, she managed to land, although very ungracefully, in front of Grimmauld Place without splinching herself.

“Shit,” Hermione whispered followed by a snort of laughter when she tripped over the threshold after finally getting her key in the keyhole. The world had gone all wobbly it had taken her ages to find the right key and get it in the lock. Closing the front door as quietly behind her as possible Hermione found herself overtaken by the strong urge to laugh again. Hermione Granger was well and truly sloshed and for some reason she found that to be very funny.

“Hermione?”

Hermione jumped at her name, letting out a little shriek as she turned around and found Sirius standing in the hall. The hall was dark, but light streamed out through the doorway to the kitchen illuminating him in long shadows where he stood, arms crossed.

“Sirius—” Hermione held a hand to her heart, feeling it beat wildly in her chest. “I didn’t think you’d still be up.”

“It’s past eleven, where have you been?” There was a strange tone to his voice, like he was angry with her but also like he was speaking to a small, frightened animal.

Past eleven? How long had it taken her to unlock the front door?

“I was—” Hermione tripped on the rug, catching herself on the wall and letting out another little laugh “—I stopped and had a little post-work drink.” Her words were slurred, even to her own ears and she laughed again, holding a hand over mouth in embarrassment. “Well, maybe one or two post-work drinks.”

“Are you drunk, kitten?” Sirius asked, sounding amused now.

Hermione continued down the hall, getting closer and closer to Sirius. Each step was a new struggle. A trip here, a wobble there. But Hermione didn’t care. In fact, she felt…good. Free almost. “Maaaaybe,” she drawled, giggling like a small child as she closed the last bit of distance and swayed before Sirius.

He stared down at her, arms now uncrossed as he seemed to be trying to figure out whether he should be amused or concerned. Hermione’s mouth went dry. Now that she was closer, she could see him more clearly and Merlin did she see him. There was a shadow of facial hair across his square jaw, and down his neck. Hermione found herself wondering what it felt like – whether it was soft or rough. Gaze traveling down the thickness of his neck she found his upperhalf bare, the only thing covering his torso, an open robe revealing the inky black of his tattoos. She loved his tattoos. They made him look dangerous. Mysterious. Hot. His chest was free of hair, the lean muscles dipping low and high like delicious hills and valleys she’d so like to explore. In fact…she reached out a hand, her body working opposite of a clear head as her fingertips tentatively touched the smooth planes of Sirius’ chest. He was warm.

He went sort of rigid under her touch, but Hermione barely noticed. Instead she was too entranced by the feel of him. Had she ever touched him before? She didn’t think she had. Her gazed traveled further south and with it, so did her fingertips. Ghosting down the center of his chest from sternum to bellybutton, she blushed furiously at the sight of thick dark hair starting at his navel and disappearing below a pair of pajama pants that sat dangerously low on his hips. She swallowed thickly, her breath coming in thick hot puffs as her hand traveled further, barely brushing the thick hair before a hand shot out and grasped her wrist.

Hermione gasped, looking up suddenly into the stormy eyes of Sirius Black before her. He lifted her wrist to shoulder height, pulling her forward slightly as he did it. The distance between them closed even more.

“Kitten.” It was a warning. Hermione knew it. But for some reason her whiskey-idled brain didn’t care. She liked the risk behind his tone. Her body practically purred at the sound of his special nickname just for her – the irony of that sentiment lost on her in the moment.

“Yes, Sirius?” she responded, her voice coming out deep and breathy and dare she say seductive? Hermione had never sounded like that before. She kind of liked it. Looking up at him with her best attempt at innocent eyes, she waited for him to say something.

Sirius stared down at her, his face a stony mask, but a war was raging behind his eyes. Hermione’s gaze flickered from the stormy grey of his eyes to the fullness of his lips and back up. With a deep breath and a long swallow that made his Adam’s apple bob in a mouth-watering way, Sirius finally spoke.

“You should go to bed.”

Hermione huffed, a bit like a petulant child but not quite as bratty. “What if I don’t want to?”

“It wasn’t really a suggestion.” His tone was dark, and it sent a surprising thrill through Hermione’s body. Her center throbbed. Her breath hitched. Maybe it was all in her head – this thick tension between them. Or maybe it wasn’t. It was certainly taboo, this…energy radiating between them. But Hermione didn’t really care because in that moment she made the sudden realization that she could have this. She could have this and not be the bad guy. Ron was the bad guy. All those months of guilt for feeling basic human attraction and he was off shagging some beautiful, leggy blonde. But now…she didn’t have to feel guilty anymore.

Before she could stop herself, Hermione lifted up onto her toes and closed the distance between them. Their lips pressed together for a moment, firm and warm. When Sirius failed to respond, Hermione’s stomach dropped, and she made the mortifying realization that he didn’t want to kiss her. She was just beginning to pull away, an apology poised on her lips when the grip on her wrist vanished and reappeared around her waist, pulling her in tightly as Sirius’s lips claimed her own.

It all happened very quickly. A meshing of lips and teeth and tongue that left her hot, sticky, and out of breath. Before she knew it, she was being pushed up against the wall of the hallway, her back and head hitting the plaster hard, but she did not care. The only thing she could focus on was the feeling of Sirius’s lips on her own and the hot cloud of their shared breath.

His hands remained wrapped tightly around her torso, gripping the material of her blouse in his fists, but Hermione’s hands were everywhere. She wanted to touch all of him, and she was determined to do so. It wasn’t until her hands wound themselves around his neck and threaded up into his hair, gripping the strands vice-like, that Sirius broke. He let out a ragged groan before moving his hands from around her waist to her front. Grabbing the material of her blouse in each hand, he gave a great tug, not even bothering to try and unbutton it. Hermione gasped at the sound of ripping fabric and the pop of her blouse buttons. Cool air brushing her sensitive skin and the hitch in his breath made Hermione acutely aware that she was now bare to him from the waist up. She remembered the bra she’d chosen to wear that day – a thin and see-through number that cupped her breasts perfectly but left little to the imagination. He was kissing her neck then, sucking and biting in ways that left her breathless and needy. His hands covered her breasts, kneading and stroking in a gentle way that contrasted so strikingly with how he was attacking her neck.

The only thing Hermione could do in that moment was hold on for dear life. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest and when Sirius’s mouth traveled south to envelope of her nipples, she thought that actually had. She let out a low, needy moan and arched into him. Feeling bold, she slid a hand from his hair, down the firm planes of his chest and to the front of his pajama bottoms. At the feel of his hard length she whined, high and breathy. Her hand had been there for barely a moment before Sirius tore away from her, distancing himself the width of the hallway. Hermione leaned against the wall behind her, needing the stability of it to stay upright due to her still drunk nature and the shaky state of her legs.

“What?” she asked, looking at the panting man across from her with confusion.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, chest falling up and down as pieces of his thick dark hair hung in his face. Hermione tried to focus but the only thing she could think of was how much she wanted to brush that hair from his gorgeous features so she could see him more clearly.

“You’re drunk. You should go to bed,” said Sirius, his voice low and gravely and filled with an edge of regret.

“But—” Hermione hesitated, confused at his response “—I don’t understand.” She crossed the distance between them, kissing up the older wizard’s neck. Did he think she didn’t want this?

“Kitten.” Sirius’s voice was strained, but he still managed to grab Hermione’s wandering hands and push her away again. Hermione gasped at his rough touch as he pulled her off of him. “I said you should go to bed.”

Hermione stared up at him in shock for a moment before a surprising rage filled her. Was she not good enough for him? Was she not pretty enough? Did he not enjoy what they’d been doing? The hot sting of angry tears reached the inner corners of her eyes and she tore out of Sirius’s grip before stomping up the stairs towards her room with a huff.

Part 2

#harry potter #fanfic #fanfiction #sirius black #hermione granger #sirius x hermione #sirius black x hermione granger #smut

53 notes · View notes

dear-evanrosier · 4 years ago

Text

Youtube Star (Muggle AU) (Parts 1-3)

Wednesday

Remus thought it was absolutely hilarious when the kids in his class were talking about the new video that Sirius Black had uploaded the day before, especially when one of them asked if he watched the latest. This specific set of questions had started when Remus had accidentally shown his screen saver- a selfie of him and Sirius, which Remus had taken right after making a corny joke, so Sirius was laughing in the photo- to a student while checking a text from said husband. It had sparked so many rumors that he still got bombarded with questions, and the slip up was over three months ago.

"So, Mr.Lupin did you watch Sirius Black's new video? He uploaded one last night!"

Yeah, I spent three hours helping him edit it and pick out the topic.

"No, I don't watch his content."

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

"Turns out Sirius Black is married! Did you know that?"

Yeah, I was the one who put his ring on.

"Nope, that's very cool. Now do your work."

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

"Did you go to his meet and greet in London last week?"

Yeah, I was backstage for ten hours waiting for him to finish talking to all of you.

"No, I went to the park."

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

He ended up having to change the lock screen so the students wouldn't try to go through his phone. He was just lucky none of his students had noticed the ring on his right finger matched the one shown on accident multiple times in some of Sirius' videos. He knew if the students found out then they would never get any work done, so Sirius agreed to keep it a secret.

That is until one morning Remus frogot his lunch at their house, and he only has twenty minutes to eat but their house is thirty minutes away. He decided to go without it, not wanting to make his students miss the test they had the next class. The period ended and he checked his phone, noticing a text sent almost fourty minutes ago.

Sirius❤-You left your lunch at home, can't have my Moony starving. I'll bring it over there.

He rubbed his face with one hand and listened outside, realizing the hall was louder than usual and there was laughter along with a heavy clacking sound that he knew belonged to the black combat boots of his husband.

"Who's that bag for?" Came from the hall, quite muffled due to the wooden door and chattering students. He stood up and stretched, and walked over to the door, opening it slowly.

He immediately spotted the thick black curls down to the shoulders, wearing Remus' favorite outfit. Plain black jeans that hugged his legs, a chain dangling from one of the belt loops to the closest pocket, and one of Remus' dark green jumpers over top. The black hem of a band t-shirt just visible under the v-neck. He was also wearing a tad bit of eyeliner, which made Remus think he was even hotter. He was taking pictures with the students lining up in front of Remus' door, waiting for their next lesson with him. At the sound of the door opening, Sirius looked away from the camera and spotted the fluffy sandy colored hair and freckles covering his husband's face. He took the picture, muttered an "Excuse me." and ducked from underneath the outstretched student's hand. He walked past the rest of the line up to Remus, who was blushing terribly and had an eyebrow raised. "Yes, Black?" He inquired, and Sirius snorted.

"That's Lupin-Black to you, love." He replied, and placed a soft kiss on Remus' lips. Remus put a hand on his cheek and let the kiss last a second longer before he pulled away and gestured to the shocked expressions across the students' faces. "You know they had a test today, right?"

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "You did not tell me that. Sorry, love." He kissed Remus again and lifted up his hands, showing a paper bag with 'Moony❤' on the front. Remus rolled his eyes affectionately and took the bag. "Thanks, love." He looked back at the students. "I think you broke them," Remus told Sirius, who also turned around to look at the students' faces.

All of the kids who followed or knew of Sirius had their mouths open almost comically. Sirius let out a bark of laughter and turned back to Remus. "What, did you take your ring off?" Remus shook his head and held up his hand, showing Sirius that he still had on his identical ring. A student gasped and grabbed both of their hands, comparing the rings. "You alright there, Lavander?" Remus asked, and the bell rang. Sirius went to leave but the students wouldn't let him, blocking him from leaving the hall. The students in Remus' class ushered the two into the room, not giving them a chance to leave.

It wasn't that big of a shock that they were gay. Both of them had been public about it, actually. Remus wore little pins with pride flags on his jumpers often and would hand them out if a student asked. And Sirius' video with him coming out had gotten well over 10 million views. It was just the fact that their soft academia teacher who liked books, tea, minimal social contact, wearing oversized jumpers, and poems is married to the complete opposite. A grunge YouTuber who loved coffee, wearing band shirts and chains, adored being in the spotlight, and always had on some form of makeup.

After they had practically forced the door closed and sat in their assigned seats, Remus' couldn't help but chuckle. "I must say, this is the most focused I have seen them all year." Sirius laughed and sat on the edge of the teachers' desk, till Remus lightly pushed him off. He hopped off and eyed Remus. "Ok, where do you suppose I sit then?" He asked, and Remus got a cheeky grin, gesturing to an empty student seat in the front row. "I am twenty-seven, not fourteen." Sirius scowled but took the seat, the students' eyes following him because Sirius Black, a youtube star, is in our classroom and is now sitting five feet from us.

Remus called their attention to the front of the room, but the students still glanced over a Sirius every few moments. "Ok, if we can get through this lesson, we can spend the last twenty minutes of class questioning my husband and me but only if you take some notes. I'll push your test back to tomorrow." A few of the students clapped, and Sirius did too, earning an eye roll and a shhh from Remus. Sirius chuckled but remained quiet during the class because he knew how much teaching meant to Remus. The kids still stole looks at Sirius whenever they could manage, but he kept his eyes on Remus the entire time, enjoying the sparkle he got whenever Remus did something he loved, not just teaching.

The class was surprisingly focused. Remus expected them to not shut up, but it was the complete opposite. Every eye was on him, but he was avoiding a specific set that normally would not be in there. He knew they were probably turning back to Sirius when he wrote something on the board. He ended up being done with the notes in only twenty minutes, giving them half an hour to question them. "Ok, we're done with notes. You can start asking questions."

The students began immediately. There were so many and they were so loud neither adult could make out the words except for few parts.

"Can-"

"Video-"

"Star-"

"Ring-" And that was basically all they could hear.

Sirius got up from where he was sitting and moved back to the teachers' desk, and didn't get shoved off this time. Instead, Remus came over and sat next to him. While the students were shooting their rapid-fire questions, Sirius turned and whispered in Remus' ear, "How often are they like this?" Remus whispered back, "Only when they talk about you, so I'd say all the time." Sirius just chuckled in response. The kids had stopped asking questions by then, so they were just staring at them while they had their short, whispered conversation. "Ok, since you guys stopped asking questions, please ask one at a time," Remus asked, and the students began the questions, just slower.

"Can you post a video so everyone knows?"

"Is his the voice the one in videos from a different room?"

"Since when did you like youtube stars?"

"How come you never showed us your ring?"

"How long have you been married?"

"Forget that, how long have you been together?"

And a lot more. After they stopped talking again, Remus and Sirius began answering questions.

"We've been together for twelve years, married for eight," Sirius told them, and a couple of kids swore because he started making videos ten years ago and nobody realized that he was married for the majority of that time. "How come you didn't mention it?!" A girl from the back shouted, and Sirius chuckled. The two kept answering questions until they got to the last one. "Are you going to make a video making it public?" One boy asked, and the two adults glanced at each other. "Er, I don't know. It's up to Remus, really." Sirius told them, then checked his watch. He jumped off the desk quickly. "Shit, I have to go. I have that meeting in about ten minutes." He placed a chaste kiss on his lips, then waved to the students. He opened the door, waved one last time to Remus, and left. The students in class turned expectantly to Remus, but they didn't get a chance to speak because the bell rang. It was the end of the day since it was an early let out.

A few of the kids in the school who drove managed to get pictures of Sirius on his motorbike, waving at them before he sped off, none of them knowing what he was doing there.

When Sirius got home two hours later, Remus was sitting on the couch, reading a book. After a small discussion, they went to bed, excited for the next day.

Friday

"Quiet down! Quiet down, everyone!" Remus began the class, attempting to call attention to the rowdy group of kids. After they all stopped talking, Remus began his speech. "Since you, all got great marks yesterday, you can have a free day today. Do whatever you like, just stay in your seats and please remain quiet." He sat down at his desk, leaving the students to their own devices. A girl stood up and walked to the front of the room where Remus's desk was. He looked up when she was standing next to him.

"Can I help you, Lavander?" He asked, and she smiled. "Actually, professor, I was hoping I could play a video on your computer?" She asked. Remus, who already knew what video she wanted to play, agreed. She searched up the video titled 'Introducing... My Amazing Husband!' and paused it before it started, turning back to the class. "Have any of you seen this yet?" She asked, and everybody shook their heads. "Good." She pressed play and sat down, every eye on the projected screen.

Sirius was in his normal chair, his hair in a bun and wearing an oversized jumper and multiple rings on his fingers, giving a mixed vibe. "Ok. It's on. Hi guys! So yesterday, I went to visit my husband at work so I could drop off the lunch he forgot. He does that often."

"No, I don't!" A muffled voice came from behind the closed door, and Sirius snickered and swiveled his chair to face the door as he cupped a hand over his mouth. "Whatever you say, Moony!" He called back before turning his chair again to look at the camera.

"Anyways, I brought him his lunch and his students found out. So when I got home from a meeting later that night, we talked a little. And did more."

"Sirius!" Another muffled shout. Sirius just laughed in response. "Ok, ok! But my dear husband has decided that he is okay with everyone knowing who he is. So, will you come in here, love?"

The door opened to reveal Remus, standing in plaid pajama pants and cropped band shirt hanging just above the waistband of his pants. Sirius eyed him as he came into the room, sitting in Sirius' lap.

"Did you really have to wear my crop top? You know it distracts me." Sirius told him, wrapping his arms around Remus' waist. "Yes. Yes, I did. It's payback for when you wore it and you knew I had to grade papers." Remus responded, and Sirius let out a short bark of laughter. "Fine."

He looked at the camera again, gesturing to the man in his lap. "So, this is my husband. And I wanted to show some videos of a younger us, which Remus has agreed to show. Isn't that right, dear?" Remus nodded and Sirius pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Please be warned that there is some blood in a couple of these videos, I just figured I should tell you in case that stuff freaks you out," Sirius explained.

The footage changed, showing the two as teens, seventeen at the oldest. It was light out and looked to be around summertime. Both were only wearing swimming shorts. Sirius' were dark green and Remus' was a light blue. There was a large tattoo of the star constellation, Sirius, over his heart and the alchemy symbol for water on his right bicep. Remus had phases of the moon tatted on the inside of his right forearm. They were standing on a roof, the footage shot from the ground. "Jump! Jump, Sirius, jump!" The cameraman yelled, and Sirius nodded enthusiastically while tying his long hair into a bun using the scrunchie on his wrist.

"Of course! You know I always will!" Remus grabbed his hand as soon as he let go of his hair, yelling back. "Absolutely not, James! I don't care if it's onto a trampoline, he will not be jumping off a roof! Peter didn't, so neither will he." Sirius gave a mischievous glance towards the camera then back to Remus, whose eyes widened.

He quickly tried to free his grasp, but Sirius clenched his hand tightly. "No, no no! Sirius Black, I swear on Merlin's saggy tits if you-" his promise was cut short by his own screaming. Sirius ran off the roof at a sprint, dragging Remus with him. The camera followed them as best as possible considering how fast they were falling.

Their hands broke free when they landed, and Sirius bounced away, almost falling off the edge of the trampoline had he not grabbed the metal. He climbed back over and jumped over to Remus, who was laying on his back in the middle. He rolled over him, pushing himself up by his legs and arms overtop of Remus. "Ok there, Rem?" He asked, and Remus huffed, staring away from Sirius.

"No! You could have bloody well killed me!" Sirius laughed and shook his head. "No, I couldn't have. It's barely a ten-foot jump. You've done worse." Remus huffed again and crossed his arms to the best of his ability since Sirius was still hovering over him. Sirius changed his position, moving his legs so he was basically sitting on top of Remus. He used one hand to cup Remus' cheek and force him to look him in the face. "You fell for me." Remus smiled slightly and cupped Sirius' cheek back. "Why, I suppose I did. But that didn't have a bad consequence, so I don't really see how that's worse." Sirius ignored the last bit and brought his face down to Remus' kissing him, who eagerly kissed back. A boy with brown hair jumped over them, causing them to bounce away from each other, and Remus really did fall off the edge.

Sirius got over there as fast as possible, jumping off the trampoline. James followed him on the ground. Sirius was helping up Remus, who was holding his face with a hand. It looked like he had hit his face into a nearby lawn chair, which had blood on the leg. "Please, let me see." Sirius pleaded with him, and Remus winced as he pulled his hand away, exposing the wound. The large gash went from his left jaw diagonally up to the bridge of his nose. It was an angry red but the color was almost purple around the edges and bled freely.

"Peter! Get the car! We have to go to the hospital!" Sirius called, and Remus put the hand back over his face. The boy with light brown hair ran past the camera to the cars, apologizing over and over. And the camera changed scenes.

Now it was dark out, the stars lighting up the night sky along with fairy lights strung up. The people there were dressed in fancy dresses or long-sleeved collared shirts and slacks. One woman had red hair tied into an elegant bun, adorned with pins that sparkled, had on a wedding dress that was to the floor and flowy. The bodice was covered in jewels that shone when the light reflected off of them. She was dancing with an eighteen-year-old Sirius.

"You really do look beautiful, Lily," Sirius told her before spinning her around and dipping her. She giggled and replied with a "And so do you, Sirius." They kept dancing for a moment until Lily looked away and then quickly turned back to him. "So?" She asked, and Sirius raised an eyebrow. "So what?"

Lily rolled her eyes and gestured to two guys dancing, one in a tux and one wearing black slacks a light blue collared shirt. The one in a tux had glasses and unruly black hair that looked like it had a bad attempt at flattening it. The man in the blue shirt had a large scar across his cheek from his jaw to his nose and freckles covering his face. His soft honey-colored hair was fluffy and hanging over his face. They seemed to be laughing and having fun as they spun each other around. "When are you going to propose to Remus?" She asked, and Sirius stopped for a moment before he continued the small patterned dance.

"How did you know about that?" It was in a hushed tone, but the camera still picked it up. "I was in your flat getting the planner that James left, and I found it when I looked in the couch cushions. Turned out the book was under your bed." She was practically laughing as she told him, purely because of the shocked face. "Besides, it's not like it's a big secret, anyway. You give him this look every time you see him, and he does the same. I'm surprised he hasn't proposed to you yet." Sirius contemplated her words for a moment and offered a small smile. "Thanks, Lils. Oh! I think James wants to dance with you." He nodded his head behind her at the man with black hair.

He held out his hand to Lily and bowed. "Can I have this dance, my dear wife?" Lily giggled and freed herself from Sirius' arms, taking his hand. "Why you can, my dear husband." James chuckled and led her away from Sirius. Remus took her spot, resting his head on Sirus' shoulder as Sirius put both hands on Remus' waist. "Hello, love. Enjoying the wedding?" Sirius asked, and Remus shrugged.

"No matter how many times James said he would marry her, I never actually thought it would happen," Remus spoke freely, and Sirius laughed at the bluntness. "I don't blame you. It took him six years for a date, and I was worried he would screw something up at one point." Sirius responded, then caught sight of the camera on them, and his eyes widened. He murmured something to Remus and let go, walking to the camera.

"Peter! How much did you get?" Sirius asked, staring straight at them. "Almost all of your dance with Lily." The person behind the camera responded, and Sirius groaned and ran a hand through his hair, glancing back at Remus. "Please don't show this to Remus, I don't know when I'm going to do it, and I definitely don't want Remus to find out because you showed him this video." Peter spoke again, "Of course not, Sirius. I wouldn't want to ruin your plan." "Thanks, Petey." Sirius flashed a grateful smile then walked back to Remus, spinning him around twice before dipping him and kissing him madly.

The screen changed again, showing young kids all wearing black shorts and white t-shirts, holding water guns. It looked like James, Lily, Peter, Remus, and Sirius in a line, in that order. They looked to be about fifteen and were standing in a large grassy field, a large stone manor off to the side. "Mum, are you recording?" A young James asked and someone out of shot responded. "Yes, hun. Am I going to be recording this entire thing?" James nodded eagerly and started talking. "Ok, I don't know if this will ever be put somewhere public, but we're recording this because we want to. Maybe we can show our future kids. Eh, Evans?" He turned to the redhead next to him and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Really, Potter? I'm only here for Remus, and that's cause he's almost my brother. I am not here for your terrible attempts to get a date." She huffed and moved in between Remus and Peter to escape James. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. But anyway, it is our dear Remus' birthday and being the genius that he is, came up with the best idea for us to do. Tie-dye war!" He held the water gun above his head, the dark liquid sloshing around inside.

"All of our water guns are filled with a different tie-dye color. So we are going to put these goggles on so we don't get any in our eyes- Sirius will you get the goggles?" Sirius walked off-screen, coming back a moment later and passing out the goggles. He returned to his spot in line and snapped his own pair on. "So. How this works is we just shoot each other until everyone is colored. The person at the end of the game who has the whitest shirt gets to give each one of us a dare later tonight when it gets dark and we set up a fire. Does everyone agree?" James looked down the line and got smiles and nods from everyone. "Ok, then. Mum, on the count of three?" He looked toward the camera as he said it, and the woman behind it immediately started the countdown.

"Three... Two... One... GO!!"

All of them took off, running in different directions trying to hide. Remus, before taking off, managed to shoot each of them with a long stripe down their backs, so that if they stood in a line you could see it. He ran to the side, hiding behind a large tree out so the camera didn't see him. There was a loud shriek, however. Remus ran out from behind the tree, Sirius following right behind him, shooting him with the gun so his back had turned into splatters of navy blue. Remus ran behind a large rock, out of Sirius' view. So he turned his attention to Lily, who was standing near a mound of wildflowers. Her eyes widened almost comically wide, and Sirius aimed for her shirt.

As he shot the dye, Lily was shoved out of the way by James, "Noooooooo." whose front was now almost completely blue as he laid in the grass. Lily knelt down beside him. "Why are you so dramatic?" She placed a kiss on his cheek then ran off, leaving him to be attacked by Remus, who had now left his place from behind the rock to take his turn at the sitting duck. No one noticed Peter and Lily from behind the trees, sneaking up on the group. Then they yelled, "CHARGE!!" and everything was fair game. Hot pink and navy blue and dark green and pastel blue and mint green were flying through the air, all of the colors landing on the others. Well, on most of the others. When the game was finished, Remus had won with his shirt only partly covered in color, the majority of his front was white. The others were completely covered in a mix of colors, hardly any white spots.

They stood back in the line, eyeing Remus with jealousy as James' mother declared him the winner.

TW: Mentions of Child abuse, blood

It was dark again, and they all had blankets wrapped around them, huddling in front of a fire. The camera shifted a bit then was still. "James, honey. I'm going inside to make sure dinner is done, your father will be home soon. The camera is set up in that chair so it can see you all. Don't do anything too reckless." The woman's voice was back. James smiled and looked above the camera. "Thanks, mum. I love you." "Love you too, James."

"OK, since I won, I get to give you each dares!" Remus bounced to his feet and the others groaned. "Should have known you were going to win, mate. You're too smart for your own good." Remus chuckled at Peter's remark and walked around the circle, eyeing them as he passed. He stopped in between Lily and James, smirking at them. Lily's smile dropped. "Remus Lupin I swear to Merlin if you do what I think you're going to do-"

"Oh, don't worry Lily. This is in your favor. Kind of." He waved her off with his hand. "Lily, I dare you to kiss James." Lily looked shocked, and James was elated. She stuttered, and Remus bent down to whisper something in her ear. He stood back up and smiled, but Lily only returned a glare. "Fine. I'll do it." She stood up and took a step closer to James, pecked his lips for less than five seconds, and sat back down. James had a large grin on his face, as did Remus.

"Ok, James. Your turn. I dare you to not ask Lily out for two months." James' grin fell and Sirius roared with laughter at his face. James glared at Remus and huffed. "Ok, then. Only cause it's your birthday. And cause it's getting a little old." Remus' grin spread and he walked back to Peter. "I know you don't like anybody, so I'm giving you something different. Jump off the tree. The small one, of course. I don't want you getting hurt." Remus motioned to the short tree next to them, and Peter stood up, dropping the blanket on the ground where he was.

He walked over slowly, climbing up as high as he could, which was only about four feet off the ground since it was a small tree. "You'll be fine, Petey!" Sirius called at his hesitation, and he yelled back, "Ok!" before jumping off. He rolled once he reached the ground, spinning once or twice before he stopped, sitting on his knees. He held his head for a moment before staggering up and back to his spot on the ground. Sirius clapped him on the back and looked to Remus, who sat beside him.

"Ok, Remmy boy. What's my dare?" Sirius asked, and Remus put a hand on his chin in mock contemplation. "Kiss me." It was clear what he said, but Sirius still exclaimed in shock. "What?" Remus stumbled over his words at the reaction but stopped the moment Sirius grabbed the top of his shirt and smashed their mouths together roughly, getting catcalls and wolf whistles from the other three. Sirius pulled apart, breathing heavily and still holding onto his shirt. "Was that a good dare?" Remus asked, and Sirius responded by kissing him again.

The footage changed once again. The room was filled with candles and it looked romantic. Sirius was standing in a white button-down and black slacks, his hair neatly parted. "Remus, can you come in here for a moment, love?" Sirius called, and a voice came from behind the door. "Just a minute, Siri! I'm making dinner!"

"This is more important than dinner!"

"Fine, fine!"

Remus came into the room, wearing just a jumper and jeans. He looked around at the candles, breathless. "Holy shit, Pads. This is amazing." He stepped forward cautiously, making sure to not knock any over. He looked Sirius up and down before practically jumping on him and kissing him madly. After a moment he put his feet back on the floor, still holding onto Sirius' shoulders and their foreheads together. "This is so beautiful, Sirius. I don't deserve this."

"You deserve the world, Remus. That's why I did this. And also so I could teach you to dance." He moved them into a waltz position, one hand holding onto Remus' hand and the other on his hip. Remus copied the position. "I know I suck, but why teach me?" Sirius chuckled and began the movements with no music. "We may need it someday. You never know." He placed a kiss on his nose and spun him, making a candle knock over. But it didn't catch on fire. Sirius took note of the shocked face and chuckled. "The ones on the floor are fake, I know how clumsy you are."

The footage changed once more, with a Sirius sitting in front of the camera and adjusting it, his dark hair curtaining his face. "Love, what are you doing?" Remus's tired voice came from behind, and Sirius finished with the camera, backing up and sitting next to Remus on a light blue couch, grabbing his hand. Both were sitting in Christmas pajamas and a tree was in the background, the colorful lights standing out against the grey walls. It had to be the previous Christmas or the one before since both men looked almost the exact same.

"Sirius, it is eight-thirty in the morning. I want to go to sleep. So, please, tell me what I'm doing so I can pass out until we have dinner with Peter, James, Lily, and Harry. I'm quite sure Marlene and Dorcas are going to come. And there's no doubt that Lily invited Frank and Alice, who are going to bring Neville. So that's seven other adults and two children. I need energy for this bullshit."

Sirius chuckled, kissing Remus' hand quickly. "Yes, love. I know. But I wanted to film a video while I had the idea. And I won't even think of posting it till you're comfortable with being out." Sirius smiled at Remus, who rolled his eyes. "Fine. What this amazing idea you had to wake me up for."

Sirius let go of Remus' hand to turn around and pick up a notepad that was sitting on a table just behind the couch. "Terrible pick-up lines." He grinned, and Remus groaned, grabbing a throw pillow and pressing it over his face. "Do you really have to? On this Holy day?"

His voice was muffled by the pillow, which just made Sirius chuckled again.

"Yes. You know I'm an atheist. So come one then, love. It'll be fun."

Remus took the pillow off his face, grumbling, "Tell me why I married you again."

"Because I'm handsome and you love me." Sirius grinned, and Remus grumbled something the camera didn't pick up. But it was enough to turn Sirius a tad bit pink. "Well yes, that too. But anyways."

Remus smiled at his flustered husband and looked at the camera, eyebrow raised. "So are you just going t say random pick-up lines, or are they all Christmas themed?"

Sirius shrugged, running over the list. "Little of both. I just wanted to see your reaction to some of these, considering you don't get embarrassed easily."

"I probably will since one, it's you and I'm one hundred percent sure that at least three-quarters of those are going to be dirty, and two it's on camera so you will definitely be using this against me in the future."

"Nah. Only half of them are dirty. So, can I start asking them?"

"Fire away, love."

Sirius smiled and kissed Remus quickly, then pulled his finger down the line until he found one that made him smirk. Remus' own smiled dropped lightly, trying the read the list upside down before Sirius pulled it away quickly. "Tch. Nope."

Remus groaned again and Sirius smiled before reading one of the lines.

"Good thing I have my library card, cause I'm checking you out."

He added a wink to the end of the line, and Remus shook his head.

"I sure hope you do, considering we're married."

Sirius narrowed his eyes slightly and huffed before reading the next.

"You stole my heart, so can I steal your last name?

ubnbnubnnu9n9ubn9ne9uvnvnfsvns9nsfubnfb

Now James was holding the camera, trying to set it up on an unseen object. Remus was behind him, shaking his head.

"Let me do that, James. I usually help Sirius so I know how to do it."

"Sure. Knock yourself out, Remmy boy."

Remus rolled his eyes at the nickname and moved in front of the camera, only taking a few more seconds to put it in place. He moved back and sat next to a huffing James.

"I did most of it."

"Sure you did, James."

He huffed again and leaned back on the couch, stretching out. The full extent of the room was open, and it was beautiful.

A large ornate crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling above the sleek leather couch the two sat on. A large cabinet with no doors behind them was full of framed photos of James and an older woman and man, smiling at the camera. A few had Sirius in them, arm slung over James shoulder amd smiling widely. More frames lined the walls of the large room, some paintings and some pictures of James and his friends.

"James, what are we doing?" Remus asked after a moment of the other doing nothing.

"My dear Remus, we are going to-"

James cut off abruptly, turning his hesd to look at something off screen.

"Did someone knock at the door?" Remus asked, and James nodded, getting up and walking out of frame. A small squek signaled the door opening, before James shouted.

"Sirius! Oh my god, what the fuck happened to you?!"

Remus jumped up and also ran off camera, coming back with James half dragging a bloody Sirius between them. They set him on the couch and he winced and cried out, his injures fully exposed to the camera.

A large cut ran from the corner of his lip to under his eye, similar to one of Remus' s scars and still bleeding a little. His lip was busted and swollen, along with a black eye. He tried sitting up and cried out again, clutching his side in a way that suggested he broke a few of his ribs.

"Sirius, what happenened?" James repeated, and Remus held a hand out to stop him.

"Hold on, James."

He bent down, taking one of Sirius' hands into both of his own. The other was still clutching his waist.

"Sirius, I need you to tell me what happened, ok? Will you tell me?"

He let out a broken sob and leaned forward, trying to put his head on Remus' shoulder, instead yelling out once more and falling back on the couch, panting and wincing every few seconds.

"Shh, baby. Please tell me."

He lifted Sirius' hand to his mouth, kissing it gently out of the view of the camera.

"She found the letters."

It wasn't much, but Remus visibly paled when Sirius said it.

"What does he mean? Remus?" James was looking between the two, face caught in a worried expression. Remus turned to him, lip caught between his teeth.

"We wrote letters back and forth instead of texting. His mother found them."

James paled too, and walked closer to the couch.

"James, the camera. Get the camera. We'll have to show this tape to the court."

Remus stood up, placing a gentle kiss to Sirius' forehead and leaving the room while James walked quickly towards the screen, looking angry amd scared all at the same time.

It went back to just Sirius.

"I am so sorry, I did not know that taoe was in there. I apolgize if I have triggered something for any of you."

#wolfstar fanfiction #Marauders #muggle au #background jily #fanfiction #thank you for reading

20 notes · View notes

uthseikoashx-inflamedme · 4 years ago

Text

Personal favourite HP (&FB) fanfictions (but unfortunately it’s mostly GGAD)

posted: 08-10-2020 edited: 08-24-2020

(really sorry for the mistakes! fanfics are better i swear)

I read several HP and FB fanfics during the last few months, and in order to sum up my favourite ones, here is this post. It’s entirely and obviously personal, and to be honest, it’s more something which is more supposed to help me than recommanding something to you

But I truly think those fanfictions are great, so if you didn’t already read them, you may enjoy them!

I might update it every now and then, by the way!

(most of them are already quite well-known though, sorry)

Put Your Guns Away, it’s Tea Time (52k) and Put Your Curse in Reverse (276k) (from the It’s Tea Time serie), written by ellizablue :

A very lovely, funny and well-written story which follows Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, Harry and Ginny Potter, the rest of the Potter-Weasley family and all of the surrounding people after the events of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

It’s technically canon-compliant - the author created an amazing story based on HPCC - and did it so well! I admit I was a bit disappointed about HPCC when it had been published, but It’s Tea Time “fixed” all of the things I was confused about.

Albus’ and Scorpius’ relationship is adorable, both of them are interesting characters. Harry and Ginny are amiable and attentive parents, they protect people they love. James Sirius and Lily Luna are also great - and to be honest, all of the characters are refreshing, complex, ect. I could talk about it throughout countless of pages. So many themes are brilliantly treated. I still didn’t read the third opus of the series!

(if I should recommand one only series of HP fanfictions, I would recommand this one)

Several fanfictions written by meanwhiletimely :

Illumine (10k) :

In Prague in 1914, Albus Dumbledore goes to a Gellert Grindelwald’s brillant speech. The political discussion between Albus and Henry Potter, how Gellert is able to enthrall a breathless crowed, Gellert’s and Albus’ very special and intense relationship, the wonderful Christian imagery and parallels, the description of the surrounding world and the ambiance, Gellert’s speech... It is quite marvellous, well-written and perfectly bitter-sweet - more bitter than sweet though. Eventual smut, very good, but imo, it cannot be considered as the very heart of the text, even though the sexual tension is omnipresent. I can't help but read it oftenly, and everytime I'm amazed - it might be my favourite GGAD fanfiction in fact. Brilliant.

Extreme Incantations (10k) :

In order to find clues about the Elder Wand story, Albus and Gellert try a “decadent, degenerate, deranged” ritual. A lot of smut, but again, their relationship and their psychology are absolutely central. I loved how they are portrayed, loved to discover Gellert’s thoughts and point of view. Again, it’s brilliantly bitter-sweet - even quite heartbreaking. Like Illumine, I have so much more to say, but I’ll stop here and just say: if you are interested by Summer of 1899 fanfictions, you could be delighted to discover it.

The Seer in the Tower (2k5) and Collateral (3k) are as great as Illumine and Extreme Incantations. In the first one, Tom Riddle meets Gellert Grindelwald after 1945 ; in the second one, Gellert and Ariana talk thanks the Resurection Stone. Light Bringer (10k), which sums up the Summer of 1899, is also amazing - incredibly painful, hopeless and horrendous, and Gellert Grindelwald is definitely not a good person - but still amazing.

Thirty-Five Owls (11k) by Letterblade :

After 1945, Albus and Gellert sent letters to each other - and I will add nothing more about the plot. A quite famous fanfiction - published in 2008 - and rightfully recognised as a brillant one. Beautifully written, the tag "Everything Hurts" is accurate, constantly breathtaking. I loved more than everything else the end - overwhelming, and yet so simple. Even canon-compliant, what more could we ask? In a nutshell, an unmissable work.

White (2k) (M) by Vandrerska :

“The story Gellert Grindelwald would tell if somebody took the trouble to ask.”, or a magnificiently well-written 1st person POV fic with Gellert talking about Albus and 1899. Here is the same vibe we already have in Thirty-Five Owls, but with the benefit of a heart-to-heart conversation between Gellert and the reader directly. Needless to say that both of the hearts involved in the conversation are broken. I love how it is written (but it is no surprise, well-crafted angsty texts like this one own my heart).

nobody else but me (5k) by Roflskate :

After meeting Percival Graves and starting a correspondence with the very head of MACUSA's Department of Law Enforcement in 1926, Albus Dumbledore thinks he's finally ready to move on from Gellert Grindelwald. Well, if you saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you know he's not.

I'm fond of the plot: the way we, as readers, already know how that story is doomed to end, is the very heart of the text - and speaking of the end, I loved it - just like Thirty-Five Owls, simple and heartrending. Again, bitterness is back. Beware of the manipulation and the very questionable consent, it's literally the plot.

(btw, this work inspired this post: GG as Hogwarts teacher/librarian before FBaWtFT: where are the fanfics? (if someone wants to write it please i will be pretty happy))

(In every bloody fanfiction I recommend Albus is suffering, sorry about that) (and it's not going to end with the next fanfic) (suffering is inherent to the character though so)

The Trial of Albus Dumbledore (51k) by Aurora_xx :

In this post-FBCoG AU, Albus Dumbledore is questioned about his relations with Gellert Grindelwald. But before his trial, he unknowingly took Veritaserum. To be honest, I felt it first as a “satisfying” AU: people we don’t like became a bit ridiculous, people we like get through (well, mostly).

Nonetheless, it’s more than that: the trial scene is incredibly tense, the consequences are terrible, and we want to see what's going to happen next. Moreover, the character development is suprisingly remarkably well-done - Vinda Rosier has an amazing backstory, for example; Newt and Newt’s friends are also very likeable, complex, etc. We love to hate Travers, Grindelwald is a character we eventually support (for specific reasons, mostly because he’s powerful, self-confident, rather hilarious and badass, but also a bit more human than we could think). And all we want to do is taking care of Albus.

It’s definitely a really pleasant fanfiction - but not an “easy” one, there are a lot of hard themes and very tense scenes, etc. This story is still considered as a WIP, though the five first chapters are already enough.

Three fics of mautadite :

A Metaphor for Change (1k) (M) : I will just rewrite the summary here, so: "Five things Albus could not bring himself to say to Gellert. (One of them is a lie.)”. I really liked it, it is angsty - but the sweetest way, the very sad way.

To Be Great (0.3k) (G) : What Albus and the Sorting Hat said when Albus put the Hat on his head for the first time. Really a relevant and sharp character study. Again, I felt a hint of a sweet kind of angst. I wonder if I am the only one, you tell me.

Love Letters (6k) (E) : Scenes of Gellert’s and Albus’ life from 1995 to 1899 - often conversations, so say hello to well-crafted relationships between mc and other characters. Here comes the angst again (I think the author writes Albus and Gellert that way - or maybe, the characters are meant to be suffused by angsty undertones). The fact that we go back in time hurts a lot, because every smile they have are perverted by our knowledge of what happens next - the happiness won’t last, and really, it hurts. Canon compliant.

GGAD works of verivala (bloodtroth on tumblr)

Many short one-shots, from fluff to angst - sometimes droll, sometimes soft, often painful, quite always (a bit or a lot) bitter-sweet. You might at least find few of them interesting.

Grindeldore one-shots (22 works)

Grindeldore requests (5 works)

Grindeldore prompt fills (38 works)

L’Indiscible (190k) by Neaniver279

This one is a French one! Deux ans après la fin de la guerre, Percy Weasley - profondément meurtri par la mort de Fred, de laquelle il s’estime responsable - est renvoyé par une mystérieuse potion au 25 décembre 1975. Plusieurs élèves de Poudlard attirent son attention et son affection, voire un en particulier, Sirius Black.

Un pairing très inhabituel qui fonctionne bien ; un Percy Weasley passionnant - faillible, perdu dans ses doutes et sa culpabilité, mais avec une répartie, une malice et une sensibilité hors du commun ; des Maraudeurs et des jumeaux Weasley attachants, avec une personnalité définie et nuancée ; une idée originale géniale, car si le voyage dans le temps ouvre des portes à une nouvelle palette de réflexions et d’expériences pour Percy, il permet aussi d’intégrer un mystère et de la tension autour de la potion, l’Indiscible.

Pas d’underage, mais une relation prof-élève tout de même - tout du moins, pendant un segment de l’histoire. Intéressante, touchante, très drôle, amère, complexe et pathétique. WIP.

Thanks for reading, I hope it had helped!

Thanks to all of the authors also! You are brave, tenacious and doing an amazing work. Thanks a lot! :)

(And of course, beware of the tags, if you are triggered by specific content - homophobia, blood, hospital, violence, explicit sex scenes, manipulation, death, etc)

08-24-2020 edit: Thirty-Five Owls, nobody else but me and verivala’s works added. 02-18-2021 edit: White and mautadite’s works added.

(08-24-2020: i’m also currently interested by Kierkegarden’s works, an already quite inevitable GGAD author, I might add some of them later)

31 notes · View notes

halictus-writer · 4 years ago

Text

Welcome to Seattle (Ch. 4 of 5)

Remus woke early the next morning, feeling energetic. He brewed a fresh pot of coffee and sat down at his table/desk combination to work on his novel. Safely wrapped in an oversized sweater, he opened the window to let the fresh cold morning air in. It wasn’t until he had settled comfortably into a workflow and even lit a cinnamon-scented candle before he remembered that he should probably still be upset over being blown off from a dinner date last night.

Instead, he felt strangely at peace. Going to the Italian restaurant, laughing with Sirius, and eating pizza had seemed to wash away his troubles, and he wasn’t going to complain if it took a surprisingly short amount of time to feel normal again. After writing a chapter and a half, it was time to leave for his breakfast with the girls.

As Remus walked out of his apartment building, he tossed his jacket over his shoulder and almost skipped down the sidewalk–– tiramisu safely in hand–– with joy. Something about the day just felt good.

Walking into the breakfast nook, he spotted his friends already seated at a table.

“Marls! Dorcas!” He greeted them warmly, giving each of them a side-hug.

Dorcas responded with a “Hey, babe!” While Marlene fixed him with a look.

“You,” she said, index finger pointing at his chest, “are absolutely glowing.”

Remus’s cheeks began to turn red, a lingering side effect of any attention whatsoever being directed towards him. His smile stayed in place though. “What, no I’m not.”

“Why do you look so happy?”

“Also,” he drew out the word, talking over Marlene, “I brought you a gift!” Remus handed over the box containing last night’s tiramisu, previously concealed by his jacket.

“Oh my god, this looks so good.” Dorcas said, eyeing the dessert.

Marlene started to close the box again when Dorcas made a noise of protest. “What?” She asked, laughing. “We have to wait until after we eat breakfast.”

“No we most certainly do not, we are adults!” Dorcas protested, and reopened the box.

Conversation flowed comfortably between the three of them, updating each other on the events of the past week. For every minute of serious conversation, there seemed to be two more of random banter, staccatoed with flicking straw wrappers and play-fighting when Dorcas or Marlene wanted to prevent the other from telling a funny story at the expense of her girlfriend. After Marlene all but tackled Dorcas to successfully pass her phone to Remus–– displaying a video of a wine-drunk Dorcas driving backwards in Mario Kart, her face dropping in shock when Marlene’s voice from behind the camera points out that she is in last place–– they got disdainfully frowned at from a tourist family and an old married couple. James would have been proud.

Eventually, Dorcas brought the conversation back to Remus’s cancelled date. “So, Marls is right, you are glowing, and I love that, but tell us about last night. You don’t seem upset about it?”

Remus shrugged. “Well, yeah, I mean it sucked waiting around for the dinner date that never happened, but if it wasn’t meant to be then there’s really no use losing sleep over it, I suppose.”

Dorcas looked mildly impressed by his answer.

“Plus, I salvaged the evening by treating myself to pizza at the Italian restaurant right by my apartment. That’s where your pre-breakfast dessert hailed from.”

Marlene looked at the now-empty to-go box in surprise. “Wow, I love how we just devoured that and didn’t even ask you where it came from. I don’t think I even said thanks?”

“Don’t worry babe, we were doing him a favor. Remus hates soggy cake.” Dorcas stated confidently.

Remus laughed. “You’re welcome,” he said, looking only at Marlene. “But yeah, I wish the waiter knew that about me. I would be totally happy with any other free dessert, but I guess tiramisu is their specialty or something.”

“Wait, hold on,” Marlene paused. “Are you saying you didn’t buy this for us? I’m withdrawing my belated thanks.”

“No, no, wait hold on, but to the other part of that sentence,” Dorcas said. “Are you saying a waiter gave you a free dessert?”

“Yeah, he kind of always does.”

“Wait, is he like, flirting with you?”

“No!” Remus said, assuredly, but his cheeks turned warm anyway.

“He gave you a free dessert. He has given you multiple free desserts? That is definitely flirting.”

Remus wanted to protest this statement, somehow, but all he could come up with was a strangled sort of noise.

Marlene seemed encouraged by his obvious embarrassment. “Oh my god, you’re going to fall in love and make babies with the help of modern science. Your baby is going to like tiramisu and be born with the personality of an old man. Half you and half waiter boy.”

“What’s his name what’s his name what’s his name,” Dorcas parroted, poking him in the arm with each question.

“Absolutely not.” Remus answered. Having already witnessed Dorcas’s impressive online stalking skills, he wasn’t about to give her a name as unique as Sirius. “Besides, uh,” his tone softened, “honestly I think he only brings me desserts because he feels sorry for me.”

Dorcas’s playful smile dropped. “Oh, Remus,” she began, “don’t sell yourself short.”

Marlene nodded with her, but mercifully changed the subject a minute later.

***

Remus shifted in his seat as his phone vibrated once, signifying an incoming text message. He was in his daily meeting with the other writers for the newspaper. They had just wrapped up the business side of the meeting, and had moved on to the fun side: presenting the best (worst?) reader comments from their online stories.

“Okay, okay, my turn,” the room quieted as Minerva spoke up. She was one of the older writers, and had been at the paper for almost ten years now. Everyone respected (and possibly feared) her, but Remus had immediately connected with her after they locked eyes during a lunch break to discover that they were both reading the newest Margaret Atwood novel and sipping Earl Grey tea. “On my article covering the shopping mall that tried to prevent breastfeeding in public, Ken M. wrote ‘aside from being completely unnecessary, breastfeeding encourages babies to objectify women.’”

The room burst into laughter, and Remus took the opportunity to subtly check his phone. Sure enough, it was Roy, the man he had been messaging for the last few days, and had even moved from Tinder’s chat platform to real texting. He smiled, but turned the phone to Do Not Disturb until the meeting was over.

“Ken M. strikes again!” Someone else announced.

“Ken M. deserves his own column, I swear.” A voice from the back of the room chimed in. “This man comments something completely ridiculous on every post. On my piece on updated bus routes he got into an argument with someone else, and I didn’t read all the comments to know how it got there, but Ken M. ended their dispute with, and I quote, ‘God is a ridiculous myth.’”

Remus laughed along with his coworkers, and took a moment to enjoy the fun banter. He loved his job for his career, but also enjoyed the little positive moments that arose from his sudden move to the big city: meeting Minerva, discovering the infamous Ken M., and laughing along with his coworkers during a meeting. His old job had been at a small newspaper where the main source of workplace laughter was Remus silently laughing at the incompetence of his coworkers, not his readers.

As the meeting ended and people began to file out of the room, he pulled out his phone. Roy told Remus he wanted to take him to his favorite restaurant on Saturday night, and Remus happily agreed to meet him in front of the Pike Place Market neon sign at 6:30. The restaurant was a short walk from there, and Remus was glad he didn’t have to awkwardly refuse getting into the car with someone he didn’t know on a first date.

I want the restaurant to be a surprise, Roy had sent, but do you have any dietary restrictions? Remus appreciated his foresight, and answered with, I’m vegetarian, but I eat pretty much anything otherwise! Remus took a moment to smile dopily after receiving a quick response: perfect.

Remus was excited for the date. Roy was very handsome, with curly blond hair, soft blue eyes, and dimples. He was also, if his profile was to be trusted, very accomplished.

***

The date was horrible. Roy kept most of the conversation centered on himself and his many achievements. Remus noticed that his eyes were actually brown, and while Remus had nothing against brown eyes, seeing as he had a pair of them himself, he couldn’t help but feel weirded out by the fact that Roy, or Gilderoy, as he referred to himself in the third person, had taken the time to edit or filter his eye color in all of his online photos.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Remus had already reminded himself over and over that it was just one date, and that even if it was disappointing, he would have a good story to tell later, and he didn’t feel unsafe at all. His friends had his phone’s location, and Dorcas had already assured him that she would “track down and throw from the Space Needle” any man who tried to harm Remus.

Remus tried to muster a polite smile as Roy told him about his obviously fabricated second meeting with Oprah, but his smile completely dropped when he read the front of his menu. They were at a steakhouse.

Their waitress approached, saving Remus from whatever monologue he was about to be subjected to. “What can I get started for you guys tonight?” She sounded bored, which Remus was willing to credit her for, as he understood working in the food industry was not exactly glamorous, but he still stupidly thought of Sirius’s excitement as he waited tables.

Roy had the nerve to try to order for Remus. Remus cut him off and appealed to the waitress. “I’m sorry, I realize you probably don’t get that many vegetarians here, but are there any vegetarian menu items?”

“You’re vegetarian?” The waitress said in surprise.

Remus didn’t expect that response, but he turned directly to Roy as he answered, “yes.”

***

An hour later, Remus was finally free of Roy. The aggravating man had offered to pay for the whole meal, with a public brandishing of his multiple credit cards, but Remus insisted they split it, just to ensure that no one thought he owed him anything. Remus wanted to never see this man again, and if that meant paying for half of a check that consisted of one expensive filet mignon and one cheap side salad, then it was well worth it.

Remus said goodbye in the midst of the Public Market, and then walked away. The last thing he wanted to do was get walked home by the insufferable man and have to listen to him, or worse, have to listen to him invite himself upstairs. As he walked home, he blocked Roy’s phone number, for good measure, and deleted the Tinder app from his phone. He dully realized that if he wanted to deactivate his account for good he would need to redownload the app first, but the symbolism felt nice in the moment.

Composure carried Remus inside his apartment building and up the stairs, but after finally locking his door behind him, he started crying. It was stupid really, and thinking that the idiot he wasted one evening with was making him cry only made him cry harder. His tears were out of frustration more than sadness.

He was frustrated that he couldn’t find a decent man on Tinder. He was frustrated that some asshole took him to a fucking steakhouse after knowing he was a vegetarian. He was frustrated because for whatever reason, he was alone on a Saturday night, again, and he very well may be alone on all future Saturday nights, because his ex-boyfriend decided that he didn’t love him anymore. What was even worse to think about, somehow, was that Remus didn’t even want his ex-boyfriend back. It would be so simple, he thought, to simply miss him, and hope that he would change his mind, and Remus could move back to his little college town and get his old job back at the small newspaper and compromise his life away. But he didn’t even want that anymore. Instead, he had to navigate the world not knowing if there was anyone that he could build a life with, all the while wasting his time on losers like Roy. And he was frustrated because he was hungry, having eaten only a small side salad for dinner.

Fueled by hunger and frustrated tears, he got up, grabbed his journal and pocketed a pen, made a halfhearted effort to wipe the tears from his face, and didn’t bother to change out of his date clothes before he headed out to go eat some comfort food.

He started crying a bit on his way to the restaurant, but it was dark outside and the anonymity of the large city granted some comfort. By the time he got to the restaurant, he was mostly calmed down, and just wanted to eat his pizza in silence, and process his emotions through writing them down in the journal he brought.

It was surprisingly busy at the restaurant for being so late on a Saturday night, and Remus took advantage of that fact to quietly slip into a booth as far away from Sirius’s normal section that he could. Remus didn’t think he would be able to keep up with Sirius’s banter, or familiarity, or free tiramisu tonight. Until he had taken the time to process his night on paper, he didn’t want to have to talk to anyone he knew. After a minute of solitude, a middle-aged waitress approached his table: success. He placed his order and went back to his journal.

As always, he started to feel better almost immediately after he started writing. Once he came to a good stopping point, he paused to look up, and drank some of the cold water the waitress had brought earlier. A few deep breaths later and he was feeling almost like a real human again.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.

“Hey there.” Sirius’s voice sounded warm, as always, but slightly hesitant too.

“I brought you something, uh, I saw that your pizza just went in the oven, so it’s still going to be a few minutes.” He placed a small platter of roasted green beans to the side of Remus’s journal, and gave a tentative smile.

Remus had a quick fleeting thought of do you think I don’t eat enough vegetables? But, he realized how tasty they looked and how hungry he was. He felt his eyes water slightly as he tore his gaze from the gifted appetizer back up to Sirius.

“Do you feel sorry for me?” Remus asked, suddenly, “because I’m always alone?”

Sirius’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Remus was almost as surprised as he was, for having verbalized the question that had popped into his mind at the moment. He supposed he meant to say alone here, in the restaurant, because that is where Sirius sees him, but it worked in the general sense too.

“How could I feel sorry for you,” Sirius said slowly, “when you look that good, even while you’re upset.” Sirius’s confident smile crept back onto his face as he walked away.

Remus watched him in surprise, and after a few seconds Sirius turned suddenly, instantly locking eyes with Remus. Caught. Sirius winked and turned back around again.

Remus frantically texted his friends. He first had to update them on the horrible date he had gone on, and then the friendly interactions he has had with Sirius over the course of his many visits to the restaurant, and finally what Sirius just said.

Marlene: First of all, Dorcas and I are gonna find this Roy guy and kill him, probably

Marlene: Second of all, REMUS! You gave me sexy-waiter-flirtation-tiramisu! What if he had put a love potion in it or something??

James: I think I’m missing something about tiramisu… is that some kind of euphemism??

Remus updated them on the desserts that Sirius had given Remus ever since he first came to the restaurant. He also started to smile again, almost unwillingly, at his friends’ texts. He remarked how much can happen in a night: excitement about a date, frustration during said failed date, sadness afterwards, spiraling into thinking he would never date again, getting flirted with, and eventually laughing as his wonderful friends tried to cheer him up, cheer him on, and just be their wonderfully unique and crazy selves.

Lily: Remus this is a sign! I said meeting someone organically would be the best, and here we are. You’ve been getting flirted with this whole time by someone you met in person!

Dorcas: She’s right, you should totally go for it! He obviously likes you

James: Come on mate, what do you have to lose?

Remus thought for a second, before responding to his support group.

Remus: my emotional support pizza

James: what??

The group convinced him to flirt back, and Remus silenced the phone before Sirius came back with his pizza. Evidently he had taken over his table from the earlier waitress.

“And here at last, one margherita pizza. Careful, it’s pretty hot, fresh out of the oven.” Sirius fiddled with the notepad he wrote orders in after setting the pizza down. ��Um, enjoy your pizza.” He turned to walk away.

“Hey,” Remus spoke up, suddenly. Sirius turned around quickly at the sound. Remus’s eyes crinkled with happy mischief. “You too.”

Sirius laughed and continued his walk back to the kitchen.

***

When Sirius brought the check, Remus carefully penned his signature and a twenty percent tip. He idled for a moment, before flipping the receipt over and writing a string of ten digits. He paused for a second again, before adding underneath in neat scrawl “should you choose not to call, we must never speak of this, because I need to be able to eat margherita pizza here on my really bad days.” On a new line underneath, he just wrote “Remus”.

***

Thirty-four minutes later, Remus received a text message from an unknown number.

“Don’t worry Remus, I would never get between a man and his pizza.”

7 notes · View notes

ghostofbambifanfiction · 5 years ago

Text

Fic Sneak Peak

I’ve been casually working on a oneshot as a gift for @thenwewilldance and since I’m super behind on my editing for Santamental updates this month, thought I’d post a little sneak peak of the first two scenes for her, and for the rest of you!

The Viscount’s Daughter

"I have news," said James urgently.

The queen continued the conversation she was having, ignoring her son completely.

"I said I had news," James repeated, tugging on her sleeve. The banquet was in full swing, and the sound of voices, clattering forks and clinking goblets rumbled like distant thunder all around them. "Mother?"

She brushed his hand away as if it were a fly. "Once the new lawns are finished, the league can reconvene—"

"Mother?"

"—without much delay, I hope. I wouldn't like to start after September and cut down the number of matches, though dear old Perkins is quite particular about the lawns—"

"As he should be, Your Majesty."

"Mother?"

"Our Quidditch pitches, on the other hand, are quite ready for the season—"

"MOTHER!"

"I believe the prince requires your attention, Your Majesty," said Lord de Mimsy-Porpington, who was the marquis of some place or other that James didn't care to remember. What did Lord de Mimsy-Porpington matter? He was as dreary and dull as a funeral, whereas James had very important news. World-altering news, in fact; news that would change the very fabric of their existence forever, yet here was his mother, more concerned with croquet lawns and Quidditch pitches than the tidings borne by her first and only child.

James had interrupted a banquet to bring her this news. A banquet. In the middle of dessert, too. There was a treacle tart sitting untouched on his plate that Peter or some other greedy swine could easily snatch up and eat. Then they'd have to be put in the stockade for stealing and James hated seeing people in the stockade, except for the time he'd trapped Sirius in it. That had been hilarious.

Euphemia looked at James, candlelight reflected in her dark eyes. Her expression was impassive.

"You have news for me, I believe?" she enquired.

James stood up straight to deliver his shocking report. McGonagall always said that a prince who slouched was a prince not worth respecting. "I do."

"Important news?"

"Very important."

"So very important that you felt it incumbent upon you to push out your chair with an unholy screech, race up here like an unfettered horse and interrupt your mother?"

Lord de Mimsy-Porpington hastily disguised his laugh with a cough and James's face burned with embarrassment, but he didn't dare blink. The queen was a stalk-and-ambush predator of the most sophisticated kind, attacking when her prey was weak and unsuspecting. It was no surprise that her Animagus form was that of a sleek panther. James had to appear strong in the face of adversity.

"Yes," he said firmly. "That important."

"Once of our guests has died, then?"

"No."

"Been taken ill?"

"No, but—"

"Then it can't be so important that my son would act in a most un-princely manner," Mother concluded. "Do you not agree, Porpington?"

Lord de Mimsy-Porpington blinked rapidly. Perhaps he was startled to have been called upon for an opinion, when it was common knowledge that he'd never said a single interesting thing in his life. "Well, Your Majesty—"

"I have fallen in love," James loudly announced. "So there."

The queen's sharp black eyebrows shot right up to her hairline.

Victory, James thought.

He had known that this was bound to get his mother's attention. She was always waffling on about how finding a suitable bride was a responsibility of utmost importance for any young prince, and how James needed a good wife to make him behave, for god forbid her clever and talented and ludicrous son (all words McGonagall had used—he didn't know what the last one meant but he'd been meaning to look it up soon) be left to rule unchecked once she and his father were cold in their graves. The way his mother talked, he'd sink the realm's money into Quidditch tournaments, cat sanctuaries and not much else.

It was deeply unfair.

Mostly that he couldn't turn the castle into a cat sanctuary, but also the marriage thing. James had scores of good ideas for the future of the kingdoms, like pig farming, for example. Pigs produced the tastiest meat of all the animals. So versatile. So delicious. But his mother simply didn't care for his thoughts.

Though James had found the woman of his dreams now, so he supposed he could cheerfully bear having a wife.

"When did this happen?" Mother asked him.

"Just now, when I saw her."

"Is that so?"

"Very so."

"And where, pray tell, may I find the object of my sweet son's affections?"

James turned around and pointed further down the table, where a beautiful girl in a pale blue dress was contemplating her dinner, wedged uncomfortably between lords Wolpert and Wood.

As James watched, she speared a carrot on the end of her knife and examined it rather glumly.

"There," he sighed, making sure to sound dreamy and smitten, like the characters in the romance novels his mother kept stashed around the castle. "The girl with the red hair."

Of course, James's beloved was far prettier than any of the ladies in his mother's books. Her skin was as pale and luminescent as a new moon, and her long hair fell in elegant curls about her face. He had known that he was in love from the moment he'd first seen her.

"I see," said Euphemia.

"Decidedly red," muttered Lord de Mimsy-Porpington—who had brought all four of his unmarried daughters to court—his lips pursed in distaste.

"Quite a rare colour in this part of the world," the queen mused, "though quite beautiful, it must be said. Don't you agree, Porpington?"

Lord de Mimsy-Porpington opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "Well, now—"

"I love her," said James.

"B—but the complexion, Your Majesty," said Lord de Mimsy-Porpington, trying again. The queen's sly rebuke had set his cheeks aflame. "A sickly pallor, to be sure—"

"Nonsense," the queen cut over him. "Hair notwithstanding, the girl is bound to be pale, living in that jagged wasteland with all of that ghastly snow. She must see the sun but rarely."

"She's a Ravenclaw?" James questioned, watching in awe as she took a bite from her carrot. The kingdom of Ravenclaw spanned the north of the country and boasted several mountain ranges.

"On her father's side only," Lord de Mimsy-Porpington piped up. His face was still puce. "Her mother was a woman of very little consequence, Your Majesty. A Hufflepuff, if you can imagine, with no real connections to—"

"Her late mother was a lady by birth, and she is the youngest daughter of the 16th Viscount of Rowena," said Euphemia coldly, which caught James's eye at once. She smiled at him—one of the sly, secretive smiles she liked to share with James whenever she saw through a simpering sycophant's ill-advised scheme. The queen was the cleverest woman alive besides McGonagall. There was nothing any lord could tell her about one of her guests that she didn't know already. "And you, darling son, have chosen to fall in love with her?"

James nodded.

"How convenient."

That was music to his ears. "Can I marry her, then?"

"She is quite close to you in age, I suppose," his mother mused. She raised her goblet and studied the girl with narrowed eyes as it was refilled by a footman, her brow furrowed in thought. "She'll have a substantial dowry, of course, I cannot find fault with her lineage, and she hasn't been entered into any other engagement, as far as I can be certain…"

James bobbed up and down on the spot, bubbling with excitement.

"I suppose I don't see why not," the queen concluded. "Her father would certainly be amenable to the match, so I'm sure we could pull it off—"

James punched the air with gusto and let out a whoop of delight, startling many.

"—just as soon as you turn twenty-one."

His fist dropped to his side at once.

He gaped at his mother, but she only smiled back and took a sip of her wine.

Why, but his dreams were ruined!

Ruined! Obliterated! Smashed to bloody smithereens, like the time he and Sirius had stolen into the Potions chamber and burst that sow's bladder.

"What?!" he cried out.

"You know that I dislike repeating myself, James."

"But why?"

"My darling, you're far too young to get married right away—"

"But that's not fair!"

"As is tradition—"

"That's torture!"

"Twenty-one is the age at which a prince of Gryffindor should marry, per tradition, as well you know." The queen set her goblet next to her plate. Her voice was firm. "Or should I ask our esteemed professor to teach you our kingdom's history once more?"

"No!" James yelped, balking at the idea of it. McGonagall was frightening when one of her lessons did not, as she liked to put it, permeate his thick skull the first time around. The way his teacher spoke to him was really quite disgraceful at times. "I know the traditions!"

"Then why are you so incensed, child?"

"Because that's—that's eight years away!" James cried out, the injustice of it all rattling his bones raw. He was not some common lord of somewhere or other, he was a prince—the crown prince, destined to be king one day—yet he could not have whatever he wanted, when he wanted. He was in love, damn it, and when people fell in love they got married. That was the rule. "It's too long to wait!"

"You shall just have to learn to bear it, I'm afraid."

"But what if I die of a broken heart before then?"

"Then you will be dead, so it won't be likely to trouble you."

"But what'll you do for an heir if that happens?"

"Name my ward to the throne, I suppose," said his mother. She brushed James's cheek with her thumb and smiled indulgently, ignoring Lord de Mimsy-Porpington's unconvincing laugh. "Cheer up, sweet one. It won't serve you well to wish your childhood away."

"Why not, when you're the one wishing my happiness away?" James sulkily retorted.

His mother laughed through her nose and patted his face. "Is my son not adorable, Porpington?"

"Indeed," said Lord de Mimsy-Porpington tightly.

"Such a handsome boy," she cooed, then dropped her jewel-encrusted hand into her lap. "Now, off you go. Back to your seat, and we'll talk about it later."

"How much later?"

"Your seat, James."

"But I don't want—"

"There's plenty of time to be wed when you grow up."

"But I am grown up!" James protested. Which he was. His voice had already started to break. "Why can't you—"

"Return to your seat," his mother warned, with a look that said don't you dare test me, "or I shall have McGonagall sent for."

If his mother was willing to threaten him with McGonagall to make him behave, James didn't need to be told twice. He fled, retreating to his empty chair a little further down the table and throwing himself into it with gusto and rage. The honourable Professor Pomona Sprout of the Hufflepuff marshes threw him an odd look when he sat down, so he stuck his tongue out at her and hoped his mother didn't see it.

The redheaded girl did see, however, and threw her eyes down to her plate, suppressing a smile.

Quite at once, James's dearly departed hopes sprung blithely back to life.

A smile!

A smile from his glorious future bride, no less!

Well…only if James could find the patience to wait for another eight years.

Blast his mother, and Lord de Mimsy-Porpington, and the stupid Gryffindor traditions.

He had to take matters into his own hands.

When the banquet ended, the royal family and their guests moved to the ballroom for dancing and drinks, both of which James was deemed too young to partake in.

Not that he wanted to partake in all of that bowing and waltzing and kissing of hands.

Usually.

His formal dance lessons were due to begin on his fourteenth birthday and James had been concocting schemes to prolong the inevitable—whilst laughing at Sirius, who was due to start in November—but he was a changed man now. He knew what love was. He had beheld the daughter of the 16th Viscount of Rowena, and the art of masterful dancing now seemed like a vital skill which had been callously denied to him.

"Isn't she pretty?" he asked Sirius, watching her talk to her father on the other side of the ballroom.

Sirius shrugged. He'd snuck his wand into the feast and was trying to level a hex at Professor Slughorn—who had labelled his latest efforts at a Shrinking Solution merely "passable"—without being noticed. Sirius was the royal family's ward and a cousin of some distance—third, perhaps, and something removed—but James's best friend, most importantly, and had a talent for mischief that couldn't be equalled. "I don't know."

"You must know, she's right over there."

"I've got better things to do than stare at some girl."

"You think staring at old Sluggy instead is better?"

"Who said I was staring? Watch this," said Sirius, and turned his back to Slughorn, positioning himself so that the tip of the wand he'd stuck beneath his armpit was pointing directly at their Potions master. The grip end was sticking out the other side, rather like the toy swords they'd used to "stab" one another with as children. "Tell me if anybody gets in the way."

James double-checked the path between them and Slughorn. "You're in the clear."

"Your parents aren't watching?"

"Don't worry about my parents." The ballroom floor was longer than its ceiling was high, and the windows alone were four times the height of James's father. "They're at the other end of the room."

Sirius grinned, and gripped his wand tightly.

"Igniloquitir!" he whispered.

A narrow beam of light shot across the ballroom, casting the marble floor in a pale white glow, and hit Slughorn squarely in the back. He immediately belched out a jet of bright red fire which caught hold of one of the curtains and set the entire thing aflame.

As the orchestra came to a screeching halt, terrified screams began to erupt around him and noblemen scattered in all directions, a horrified Slughorn clapped his hands to his mouth and dropped to his knees.

"You set the drapes on fire," James pointed out, watching the flames savage their way through the fashionable gold brocade with interest.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder. His wand was already tucked into his sleeve. "Whoops."

"Mother loves those curtains. She'll kill you."

"She won't if I tell her you did it."

James glared at Sirius. Behind him, Slughorn had let out another flaming belch and set his trousers on fire. He was rolling around on the floor while Countess Vector of Eaglefield sprayed him with water from her wand. Yet more people were working on the curtains. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would, and she'd believe me."

"No she wouldn't."

"I'm not the one who pitched a fit because she won't let me marry some girl."

"Some girl..." James whirled around and found her in the crowd almost at once. She was standing alone—her father had rushed to assist with the drapes—and trying to suppress a laugh as she watched Slughorn thrash about.

"Attention!" cried the queen, who had appeared before the now-smoking curtains, hands lifted into the air to signal to the crowd. The cuffs of her gown sleeves were so wide that the purple velvet trailed below her waist. "Attention, everyone!"

Now was his chance. His moment. His one window of opportunity.

"See you," he muttered to Sirius.

As his mother began to assure her guests that everything was under control, James darted across the room, weaving between stationary pairs of dancers, and found himself standing directly before the girl of his dreams.

She blinked at him in surprise, but said nothing. Perhaps his sudden appearance had alarmed her, or perhaps James was so handsome that she was overwhelmed by love. That was the more likely scenario.

"Hello," he said, drawing himself up to his fullest height.

"Hello," she replied, and immediately coloured, her cheeks glowing almost as red as her hair. "I mean, good evening"—she sank into a neat curtsy—"Your Royal Highness."

"Oh, you shan't have to curtsy to me," he told her grandly.

"I shan't?"

"Not ever."

A little crease wrinkled in her forehead. "Why not?"

"Because," he said, and put on his most charming smile, "you're going to be my wife."

She immediately burst into tears.

#fic #sneak peak #oneshot #Jily #AU #magic #Royalty AU #snippet

65 notes · View notes

siriuslysnuffles · 6 years ago

Text

Of Intimacy (Complete)

days eight, nine, and maybe ten of “27 days” will be posted tomorrow since I spent all day editing this, but here is the complete “Of Intimacy” series.

Can be found on AO3 & FFN as well.

prologue.

Intimacy doesn't mean sex. According to the dictionary it means a close familiarity or friendship; closeness. It means a private cozy atmosphere. It means an intimate act, but it doesn't have to mean sex. They're actions that show your affections for those close to your heart.

It's in these actions that Lily fell in love, she fell in love with friendships, some of them that weren't worth it, that would cause a piece of her heart to break despite everything that they had done (but she would always heal like broken hearts always do).

Some of them she would value until her death because they taught her what it meant to be loved without being placed on a pedestal, being loved without fear. That was the love she held in April and Sirius and Remus (and even Peter before his betrayal). They taught her what it meant to not have to seem perfect in order to be loved and respected. She didn't have to give reasons for her feelings, and she would forever be grateful for them.

Some of these friendships would blossom into more, a love so great that the universe felt inclined to draw them back to each other, over and over again (because at times it seemed like it was never meant to be) until the inevitable could no longer be avoided and that's what he was. James Potter was her great love and would be so for all eternity, and she his. He taught her what it meant to not settle for any one, to be given every single emotion that she gave out. She would never regret that, never regret him or Harry and the bond she formed with both her boys.

She'd never regret these acts of intimacy that she committed throughout her life. Forged in love and endurance.

i. of napping, a realisation.

'What are you doing,' Lily mumbled in confusion, turning in bed to face him with half-opened eyes before dropping her head to rest against his chest, his lips brushing the crown of her head softly.

'I was playing with your hair,' he murmured into it, the smile evident in the movement of his lips. 'It's a mess, Cariad.'

'You're one to talk,' she laughed, the sound softened by the feeling of her mouth against his skin; the vibration of it causing a shiver to go down his back. Gazing at her adoringly, he repositioned the fingers of his left hand into her hair in an attempt to untangle the unruly curls. She let out a content sigh before whispering, 'James?'

'Yeah?' His voice came out both sleepily and in awe, the tone that had only ever been reserved for Lily; his other hand pressing her even closer against him, settling on tracing up and down her spine leisurely.

Slightly lifting her head up off his chest, her eyes blinked slowly before rapidly closing as a small yawn escaped her. The action causing the ever-present butterflies in his stomach to flutter against every fibre of his being. 'I love you,' she uttered mid-yawn before snuggling into him.

He shifted the hand on her back to her right hip, giving it a gentle squeeze before breathlessly uttering,'Yeah?'

She sent him a smile that had he been standing would have had him falling face first but, because he wasn't, simply left him falling deeper in love with her. It was the kind of smile you would do anything to be on the receiving end of and left him even more convinced of the absolute control she had over him, the control he trusted her to never abuse.

Lily replied softly with a 'Yeah,' before drifting off to sleep shortly after; the fragment of the earth-shattering smile remaining on her face. It hadn't been the first time the couple had said, 'I love you,' but the effect those words had on him never ceased to amaze him. He decided then that he would go to the jewellers in the morning. His lovely girlfriend deserved everything he could give her and more, but he supposed he could start with a ring. Fondly placing another kiss on her head, he joined her in her nap, excited for a time when he will be able to wake up next to her for the rest of his life–even if she did hog the blankets.

ii. of the past part one, a misunderstanding?

A feeling of rejection overcame her as she remained alone while leant against the wall opposite Gryffindor Tower, shifting her weight from her left leg onto her right out of irritation. He was late, she sighed sadly, beginning to run her fingers through her hair only to stop mid-way with a small frown appearing on her face. He had never before been late when it came to her. Yet he was now, causing her heart to feel close to shattering at the thought of why he hadn't shown. She had come to the conclusion that he was interested, had been driven into believing so through his teasing words and wanton smiles, through rare blushes and careful touches. She didn't want to think she had misread the signals especially with Sirius' encouragement on the matter, yet James was nowhere in sight. She wasn't upset because she fancied him–at least not entirely, she told herself–but he was supposed to be her friend. So even if the prat was no longer interested in her romantically, the polite thing to do was to actually show up to their date and tell her so instead of this. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she once more shifted her legs, feeling the judgmental eyes of the Fat Lady gazing down at her. Fixing her eyes once more on the watch around her wrist, she gave it a distasteful glance as the seconds hand ticked by. Seconds passing quickly turning into minutes, forcing her to acknowledge that James Fleamont Potter, soon-to-be ex-Head Boy, was exactly one hour, twenty-three minutes and forty-seven seconds late to their date. Forty-eight seconds, forty-nine, fifty.

She dejectedly admitted that he wasn't coming. Having decided a year ago to stop crying over people who, in the end, usually weren't worth the effort, she took a deep breath and stood up straight, blinking away the remnants of any tears that may have been. Taking the less mortifying road, however, wouldn't stop her from daydreaming about hexing the stupid, redhead-seducing prat to Azkaban the next time she saw him. Her anger increased as she witnessed Violet entering the Fat Lady's portrait, whispering hastily as the two of them scrutinised her for what was sure to be the latest gossip in the morning.

Approaching the portrait slowly, she defiantly uttered, 'pukwudgie,' before raising an eyebrow at the look the pair gave her, silently daring them to say a word because while she knew she'd get over the feeling of anger and hurt soon enough, for the moment, it was intensifying. The Fat Lady opened her mouth for a moment, prepared to make a comment before wisely deciding to satisfy herself with releasing a short, disapproving sound from her mouth.

'Hey, Evans, what are you–' Sirius called from his place on the sofa where he sat with Peter and Remus. His back was slumped against the seat, his feet casually thrown up on the coffee table in a fashion only Sirius could pull off that emphasised his natural beauty without causing him to appear sluggish. Marching up to him, she let her eyes peer into his, radiating her anger through their vibrance. Her next words caused a shiver to run through him, 'I'm going to kill him.'

'I–' He sat up straight, turning his attention to the other two. His eyes reluctantly pleading with them as he watched the look of fear that appeared on their faces that surely matched the one on his own. Peter and Remus avoided their gazes, especially that of Lily's who looked on the verge of feeding them to the giant squid as a snack . Bloody cowards, he thought–although Sirius supposed if anyone could make three men fear for their lives it was Lily Evans.

'James better have a good explanation,' he mumbled irritably to himself before standing up and hesitantly wrapping his arms around her.

'Get off,' she protested half-heartedly despite the fact that she had already begun resting her head on his chest.

'If James really did stand you up, I'll personally bring him to you for a serious hexing. Except I should probably ask you on behalf of his parents that you don't murder him, love.' He pet her head awkwardly, not quite sure how to handle a distraught person. 'Although,' he added as an afterthought, a devious smirk adorning his face, 'Mia is very understanding; she'd probably let you murder him if you explain the situation.' He paused for a moment as she let out a small laugh. 'Or do it herself. Quite efficiently,' he added. Pulling away slightly, he tugged on a strand of her hair affectionately, aiming a grin at her. 'Deal?' he asked.

'Deal,' she agreed with the first hint of a smile.

iii. of the past part two, a date

'Evans,' she heard a voice scream from the common room for the third time. A voice that would have usually had her smiling and blushing. Presently, however, it caused Lily to have the temper of a Peruvian Vipertooth–the smallest known dragon to wizarding kind who, like Lily, could no doubt cause one to cease to exist with little to no effort on their part.

As another scream echoed from below–courtesy of the idiotic Head Boy with an apparent death wish–she grabbed her wand from the bed, ready to hex the prat for his lack of consideration if the occasion presented itself. She supposed that if she really wanted to get back at him all she would have to do is steal his glasses and watch as he attempted to fly on his broom without them. Unfortunately–or fortunately if she had been in a better mood–she would have to catch a glimpse of those pretty hazel eyes if she planned on seeing this action through. And frankly, prats who stood up their dates did not deserve to have beautiful eyes; it was the law of the universe.

April gave her a sympathetic look before asking, 'Are you going to talk to him?' Lily's only response was a shake of her head before lying down on her bed. 'I'm sure he didn't mean to stand you up. He looked like he just won the Quidditch World Cup when I saw him this morning.'

'Then he should have shown up.' Lily mumbled mulishly, shooting her friend a glare that didn't quite have the same effect it would have had on most people. 'If Potter,' she spat the name with as much content as she could manage, 'had wanted to talk with me the courteous thing would have been to show up.' Although she tried to hide how hurt she was by his actions through angry words, her feelings remained visible.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Lily's petulant behaviour she said instead, 'James isn't Severus.' Lily bit the inside of her cheek at this statement but remained silent. 'He wouldn't just ditch you for no reason. You know that, you know him. You're just scared that maybe you'll make a mistake by trusting him. That's why you waited so long before asking him out despite the fact that you've fancied him since last year. You're scared, and, as your best friend, I'm telling you this for your own good, Lily. Stop trying to find a reason to ruin any chance of a relationship you might have with James just because Severus turned out to be a complete arsehole who never stopped letting you down.'

'I'm not,' she pouted, crossing her arms. Her eyes narrowed at the other girl briefly in defiance before she took a deep breath and stood up. Although, she tried to conceal her smile, April made no attempt in hiding her innocent humming of 'Here Comes the Bride.'

Once more shifting her attention to focus on the blonde, she firmly stated that it was her own desire to go talk to the handsome prat (perhaps not in those exact words) and not the result of her friend's insinuation that Lily had unresolved issues involving backstabbing bigots.

'I just don't want him to injure himself doing something careless and get blamed if Gryffindor loses the first match of the season,' she said adamantly.

'Whatever you say,' April laughed. Before marching off, Lily heard her friend's smug proclamation that said event wasn't until November.

On her way down to the common room, she caught sight of the boy in question sitting at the foot of the staircase. He was glaring at it as if it were responsible for all his troubles.

'What do you want, Potter?' She saw him flinch at the manner in which she pronounced his surname as if it were acid. Nevertheless, he stood up and faced her. As she watched him, she noticed how he held onto the left side of his abdomen with a look of pain on his face before quickly dropping his hand when he caught her gaze fixated on him. 'Are you–' she began asking as he said, 'Lil, I–'

'Erm, you can go first,' she said as she brushed aside a strand of her hair.

His voice came out alarmed as he continued with his sentence, 'I got mugged,' The look on his face one of a deer caught in headlights.

She stared back at him with a look of bewilderment on her face. She opened her mouth before quickly closing it; not quite sure what to say to that. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and waited for him to elaborate.

'I panicked,' he admitted. The worry in his voice evident. 'I didn't get mugged. Although, Sirius did say it would be better if I said I was.' He laughed nervously before adding, 'He's under the impression that you want to murder me.'

'I wouldn't call it an impression considering I told him I would. Perhaps an inevitable event would be more accurate.' Taking a deep breath, she took a step closer to him and asked, 'So what really happened? The James Potter edition, that is.'

He sighed before meeting her gaze. 'I got ambushed by a few Slytherins when I was coming back from the kitchen. They gave me a nasty curse to the stomach and disappeared once they heard the sound of someone coming. It was Dirk Cresswell, you know, one of the Hufflepuff Prefects. He saw my wound and went to find Professor Sprout to help take me to the hospital wing.' Absently, he moved his hand over his middle once more.

He ran his other hand through his hair, pulling at it nervously. His eyes pleading with her before saying wretchedly, 'I never meant to miss our date.' He sent her one of his lopsided smiles, 'I've wanted a date with you since our fourth-year, Evans. So please trust me when I say that had I not been surprised by the Slytherins, I would have shown up.'

She cast her eyes down for a moment, feeling guilty for thinking so poorly of him—all prior thoughts of vicious dragons and hexing forgotten.

'I suppose being attacked is a good reason for missing our date,' she acknowledged softly. 'Even if you weren't actually mugged.'

Her eyes held a mischievous glint in them for a moment that had James speechless. Especially when she placed a hand on his shoulder and tilted her face up to get a better look at him. He was close enough to her to admire the assembled freckles that were gracefully spattered across her face and caused him to become tongue-tied at any given opportunity.

With the same look of mischief still present, she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before impishly remarking, 'I suppose you'll have to make it up to me, won't you?' And with a playful wink sent his way, she headed up the stairs.

iv. of the past part three, a kiss.

Lily had a set rule when it came to dating: only kiss a boy after a successful third date. This rule was put in place after an unfortunate first date in fourth-year when one Colin Hunt had pressed his lips against hers abruptly and proceeded to brag to the rest of the fourth-year Ravenclaw boys about how the redheaded Gryffindor had thrown herself at him. Needless to say, someone made sure that Colin Hunt couldn't talk for the next two weeks, and, quite unfortunately, it couldn't be traced back to her. However, the crooked smile she got from James Potter the next day was more than enough to confirm that Lily's mischief hadn't gone unnoticed (a pleasant thrill had gone through her at the acknowledgment of her transgression).

The third date rule, however, seemed silly when it came to James. James who she trusted more than anyone, silly for the boy who caused her to feel so content by his mere presence and who caused her to melt by the sight of his tousled hair or that adorable grin that was usually the result of some act of mischief. It was that grin that usually had Lily on the verge of shoving him into a broom closet and snogging him until his messy hair was beyond redemption. But it's not like she thought about kissing him much. It only occurred to her a few times a days, sometimes provoked by his smile or laugh or his humor. Although, him taking off his robes was also a major contributor; if anything could be blamed for Lily's roaming thoughts, it was Quidditch.

Their first date had been held in Hospital Wing the afternoon after the misunderstanding and was held under the watchful eyes of Madam Pomfrey.

'Five more minutes, Miss Evans,' the patron reminded her for the fifth time since her arrival, eyeing Lily as if she was about to sneak James away under her robes.

Lily laughed as Madam Pomfrey moved to attend to another patient. 'Come back and visit me, Lil?' James mumbled into her neck, nuzzling into it for a short moment that had her stomach feeling a pleasant sensation until he pulled away–leaving her with the lingering thought that she shouldn't be feeling this giddy just yet but it was right, he was right, this was right. It should have scared her, but it didn't.

'Of course.' Her voice came out hoarse as her fingers moved to his cheek, drumming them gently against his skin. She watched his reaction, noticing how he licked his lips in anticipation, his eyes shifting focus between her lips and eyes. She leaned in closer, her lips about to touch his before they were interrupted by a sound of disapproval.

'I think it's time you let my patient rest, Miss Evans.' She let out a regretful sigh and quickly moved towards the door with a goodbye and a wave for James and a quick apology for Madam Pomfrey. In spite of the blush coating her cheeks at getting caught, or almost caught, she couldn't help the hint of bitterness she felt at being interrupted, she had still had a minute after all.

Second dates were much better than first dates, especially when you were far from the watchful eyes of patrons who could interrupt stress-relieving snogging with the person you were attempting to date. But Lily wasn't bitter, today she would be engaging in certain gratification-inducing activities with her fellow Head if all went to plan.

By the end of their second date, everything had seemed to be going how Lily had imagined it. They had gone out for an early morning walk around the lake and led to them having lunch in the kitchens. She had taken his hand in hers as he led her back to the common room, stopping by the girls' staircase.

His mouth twitched upwards as he looked her pushing a strand behind her ear. Her hand moved to his shoulder, her thumb brushing against it in soothing movements. Lily grinned when she saw his eyes fluttering.

'Evans, love,' he moaned softly. She moved her other hand into his hair, pulling on it lightly and bringing him closer to her face.

'I'm going to kiss you,' she told him bluntly. He nodded slowly as she moved in.

She should have known better than to believe that everything could go to plan.

'Hey, Evans,' Sirius yelled as he descended the boys' staircase. The sound of his best friend startled James and caused him to move his face, Lily's lips landed on his cheek as a result. James turned around apologetically, sending her one of those adorable lopsided grins of his that made her want to forget Sirius was there, looking at them with an amused look, and kiss him.

'Did I interrupt anything?' he asked innocently.

'You're a bastard, Black,' she joked. A pretty blush coated her cheeks as she watched James adjusting his glasses. 'I'll see you later, lads.' She hurried up to her dormitory but not before hearing the sound of someone being hit in the head along with the statement, 'Bloody hell, this is animal abuse, Prongs.' She giggled as she fell onto her bed. She supposed snogging the daylights out of him would have to wait for another day.

Three times the charms is a lie. An utter bloody lie that gives one false hopes and cuts dates short because fourth-years can't help but fighting in the corridors–resulting in the Head Students needing to escort them to the Hospital Wing.

She began believing that perhaps the universe believed that they weren't meant to be, leaving them always be on the edge of something that should never be. But Lily wasn't going to let anything stop her from at least attempting to kiss him. Because it would never just be about a kiss, it was about her potential to love him, a love that she knew would be amazing if she was just given the chance, if they were given the chance.

'You're quiet tonight, Cariad,' he said as they patrolled the dark corridor. His hand had taken hers in his, bumping them against his leg every so often, almost like he needed to touch her to know that this was real, that they were real.

'I think the universe or Merlin himself has something against us.' She leant her head against his arm briefly.

'Oh,' he responded in surprise before adding in with a brief chuckle, 'Do you think it was something I said?'

She shoved him lightly, sending a small smile his way. 'Don't be a prat, I'm being serious.'

His lips twitched. 'I'm not really scared about what the universe, or Merlin, thinks, Lil. I'll court you for the rest of my life, and I'll fight anyone who tries to keep you from me. I promise.'

'You think you can take on the universe, Potter?'

His eyes held the mischievous glint she adored before taking his hand out of hers, cupping her face instead, waiting for her to close the gap between them. And standing on the tip of her toes, she did. Wrapping one arm around his neck and using her other hand to feel one of his forearms, they told off the universe, Merlin, the bigoted arseholes, and anyone else wanted to stand between them because they could they would fight it off together.

It didn't matter that ten minutes later Professor McGonagall found them in a compromising position with Lily's legs wrapped around James' waist and his hands tangled in her red locks, keeping her mouth close to his. It didn't matter that they had received three hours of detention each, not when the universe had managed to miss James muttering, 'Go out with me, Evans,' into her neck, and Lily's response of 'Yes,' grasping onto his hair once more before reattaching her mouth to his.

It was too late.

v. of interludes, a friendship

If there was one person Sirius loved as much as he loved James Potter, it was Lily Evans.

He supposed some people wouldn't be able to comprehend his feelings for her. Rumors had begun going around Hogwarts recently that not only was Lily Evans dating James Potter but also Sirius himself. It was ridiculous for anyone close to the redhead, anyone could see how in love she was with James, how in love they were with each other. It was idiotic that anyone would believe Lily would cheat on James, offensive that anyone thought Sirius would make a move on his best friend's, on his brother's girlfriend. It was complete shite.

He supposed the only truth to the rumours was that he loved her, that he was in love with her but it was a platonic, unconditional love that mirrored the one he felt for James. They were his family, better really. You can't choose who you have for family, but, if he could, he would have chosen them.

His day had begun fine enough, he had had breakfast with the boys and Lily and her friend, April Eliot. It had gone fine and Sirius, Remus, and Peter had left James with Lily to properly say goodbye before they went back to the dorm to plan the next full moon. What wasn't fine was running into Regulus hours later with his idiot friends. What wasn't fine was the way his brother had touched his arm left arm as if it burned. Sirius wouldn't have admitted it to anyone but Lily and James, but he had feared that this was coming. He wished he could say it was a shock when he pulled up Regulus' sleeve and saw his mark, but it wasn't. It didn't stop the guilt that overcame him, and it didn't stop Sirius from turning his wand on his brother, the one he was given by some force of nature. It didn't stop him from placing his wand in his robes instead and fighting him the Muggle way as Regulus' two sidekicks watched like cowards, too afraid of the eldest Black, or perhaps too stupid to realise they had wands. It didn't stop him from reprehending him for being a fucking idiot, a bigot who would join a group that wanted those that Sirius loved the most killed, people like Lily and Remus and Peter.

He was pissed. Maybe not entirely at Regulus.

He didn't regret it though, not really. Not when McGonagall sat them in her office and gave them a lecture and a week worth of detention. Not when he looked down and saw the blood of his brother on his knuckles. He didn't care as the portraits gave him scandalised looks and whispered to one another as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He just couldn't bother caring. All he wanted was to go back to the dorm and rant to three of his best friends about his idiotic brother who did everything he could to make their parents proud, it sickened him. But of course, they weren't there because the universe was determined to screw him over. He was sure Merlin was laughing at him right now.

Marching back down to the common room he was met with the only other person whose presence wouldn't cause him to go into any violent tendencies.

'Evans, upstairs?' He asked as he approached her sitting on the sofa with Eliot. Ignoring the other girl as she wiggled her eyebrows playfully at the redhead before she packed up her things to leave.

'I'll see you later, Lily,' she yelled over her shoulder, leaving the other two alone.

'All right, Sirius?' Lily asked as she too stood up, her eyebrows knitting together as placed her bag on her shoulder. 'What's wrong?' Her hand took his in hers, giving it a brief squeeze as he led her to the boys' dorm room.

'I need to vent, and the boys weren't in our dorm.'

Lily rolled her eyes, 'It's good to know that I'm second best.' He shrugged his shoulders knowing her enough to realise when she was actually offended by something and when she simply wanted to amplify something for her amusement.

'Don't be dramatic, Evans,' he stated casually.

'Don't be a hypocrite,' she laughed not unkindly. Making her way into the room, she headed for James' bed that she always insisted had better pillows than her own. Although, Sirius thought that was just an excuse to stay in James' bed most nights. 'You go to James' Quidditch practises just to boo him.'

Sirius sent her a small smile as he sat down next to her. 'And you help me do it,' he said, bumping his shoulder into hers.

Lily sighed as she lied down, Sirius following suit. 'What happened?'

Sirius ran a hand through his hair absently, causing a small grin to form on her face at the accidental imitation of her lovely boyfriend.

'You remember me talking about Regulus a while back?' His eyes closed. Not waiting for a response, he continued, 'He's a Death Eater. He has the mark.'

She didn't say anything, knowing all too well the feeling of having someone you care about disappoint you. The feeling of hatred for them, followed by the feeling of self-hatred and guilt for not saving them.

'It's not your fault, you know.' She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him.

'I know,' he mumbled into her hair. 'I just wish I could have protected him.'

'I know.' They were silent for a bit before Sirius spoke up again, 'Hey, Evans?'

'Yeah?' She whispered, a yawn escaping her in between the word.

'Just so you know, I'm platonically in love with you.'

Lily giggled, as she sat up. 'Couldn't you just tell me you love me like a normal person, you tosser?'

Sirius scoffed, 'I'm exceptional, thank you very much.'

'An exceptional tosser maybe.' He laughed, flicking her behind the ear. 'Hey, Black?'

'Yes?'

'I suppose I'm platonically in love with you too.' She pressed a kiss to his forehead that reminded Sirius of the way Mrs Potter would do whenever he had visited the manor. Lily pulled away as the door opened and closed.

'Ah,' an amused voice said. 'So the rumours are true,' James said, placing a hand over his chest dramatically and dropping his broom against his bed.

'Oh, shut it, you prat,' Lily said as she got up to greet her boyfriend with a hug, moving away from him slightly to adjusts his glasses.

He chuckled before placing a kiss on her nose in thanks. 'Everyone downstairs was giving me sympathetic looks when I said I was looking for you.' He pushed a strand of her hair back, keeping his fingers tangled in her red curls. 'Apparently,' his eyes moved to Sirius' playfully, 'someone demanded for my girlfriend to come upstairs with him. What a scandal!' He placed his forehead against hers. 'Because how dare my girlfriend go anywhere when I'm not around, especially with another male.'

'It doesn't bother you that people think I'm shagging Sirius?'

'Nah, it's silly.' He pulled her in closer, 'And I know you love me.'

Lily giggled. 'I don't know I think you might have some competition.' She teased, moving her mouth to James' shoulder, her hand moving into his hair. 'Sirius declared he was platonically in love with me.'

Another laugh, 'I suppose that's not surprising.'

Lily giggled as Sirius threw a pillow at James. Kissing her boyfriend's temple as he pouted at his best friend's abuse.

It was ridiculous that anyone could mistake her love for Sirius to be more than of platonic nature, but that didn't make it mean any less. She would die for him just as she would for James, because James was her soulmate (she was sure of it) and Sirius she supposed could only be described as her platonic soulmate–one she had chosen to love. Both amazing and both worth loving until her final moments.

vi. of human decency, a rant.

'What are you thinking about?' Lily asked him, letting her fingers brush the knuckles on his hand lightly as they made their rounds around the castle. He grasped her hand carefully, intertwining their fingers together, smiling briefly as he did so.

He gave her hand a small squeeze before saying, 'I heard that you got into a fight with the Slytherins today.' It wasn't accusing, it was exhausting. He was tired, tired of them and their prejudices. 'I was worried,' he admitted.

'I'm sorry.' And she was but not for the fight.

'Don't apologize.' He sighed knowing that her sorrow lied in his own emotions. 'I hate them, Lil, so much. How messed up do you have to be to want someone dead because they weren't "fortunate" enough to be born with the "right" blood running through their veins? To be so offended by the thought of someone marrying someone of a different blood status?' He let out a derisive snort. 'Idiots, the lot of them. They'd rather have their daughters and sons end up with literal arses than be happy with someone they love because they have these preconceived idea that blood means something, that being a pureblood makes you superior. Blood is shite, it's just an idea meant to further oppress a group through when all it is is chance.' He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and saying, 'Whatever happened to being a decent human being and not caring about someone's blood but whether they were decent people? No one should have to settle for anything less.'

She pulled on his hand, stopping them in their tracks. 'James?'

'Yeah?'

'Did you just rant to me about the blood supremacy system?'

'Yeah.'

She laughed for a moment, tears in her eyes. 'I love you, I hope you know that.'

He let go of the hand she was still holding, placing them instead on both sides of her face and leaning his forehead against hers. 'Never settle for anything or anyone less than you deserve, Lil. I won't even mind it much if you break my heart while doing it. You deserve everything, everything.' He sounded as if he were in pain.

It broke her heart for a moment as she saw the hint of tears in his eyes, she knew he meant it. Knew that he would step aside without another word if he though she would be happier without him.

So she pressed her lips to his instead, putting in every intense feeling she has ever felt for him into this one kiss. She soon tore away, moving her lips to his cheek before whispering into his ear, 'This isn't settling, this could never be settling.' The tears finally fell.

vii. of rings, an engagement?

He had no idea what he was doing if he was being honest, he just knew that he had been compelled to pass the shop ever since he had spotted it in November during another full moon adventure. The store had been closed but the gorgeous rings had still caught his attention, drawing him in. It had scared him that he had been so drawn to them when he had only been dating Lily for two months at the time, so he had pushed it to the back of his mind.

But now he was back, having given his girlfriend and best mates the excuse of having promised Professor McGonagall that he would tutor a first-year in Transfigurations. Lily had given him a big grin that made him his stomach flutter, he had leant down and placed a kiss on her cheek, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

'Don't let Sirius get you in trouble while I'm gone,' he teased.

He heard Sirius snort as Lily laughed. 'I think you should be more worried of her getting us into trouble, Prongs.'

He looked into Lily's eyes and couldn't help but agree because if Sirius was right about anything it was that Lily Evans was trouble, and he wouldn't change it for anything in the world. He was drawn to Lily Evans just as he had always been drawn to trouble, because they made him feel not alive but to feel as if they were more than life, it was an inexplicable sensation that he hoped to never stop feeling.

So here he was, walking into a shop like he had any idea about what he was doing, but James had always known what he wanted, and what he should have known in November is that she was it. Of course she was it because no one else could drive him to the brink of insanity with a single look, she was vivacious and kind and the love of his life. At fifteen, he had realised that she would be his undoing and it had terrified him more than anything ever had, a first considering he had a werewolf as a best friend who he roamed around with at least once a month; at eighteen, he knew and welcomed it because the most terrifying things are often the most amazing.

The man at the front looked up at James as he let the door close behind him. His eyes shone with a knowing glint as he looked up at James, 'I was wondering when you'd come in.'

'I'm here for a ring?' he asked instead of said.

The man chuckled, 'You've come to the right place then, best rings in all of Hogsmeade.' The man gave him a sympathetic look at the lost expression on James' face. 'Who's the lucky girl?'

A smile of complete adoration made itself onto James' face. 'Her name's Lily.' His voice was in awe as he added, 'My girlfriend.' He still couldn't believe it sometimes, she had chosen him. She loved him. 'She's everything,' he sighed. Everything didn't seem like enough to describe her.

He walked around the tiny shop for a moment before spotting one that spoke to him the same way the shop had. 'Can I see this one?' He asked, pointing at the ring with a diamond stone surrounded by two emerald ones. The man handed it over. It was made of goblin gold and gorgeous, and all James could think about when he saw it was the moment when she might let him slide it onto her finger, the moment when she would allow him the pleasure of calling himself her fiancé, her husband.

He looked up at the man and nodded. 'I'll take it,' he said, his fingers tightening on the ring that was still in his hand.

The man chuckled as he noticed the gesture. 'Do you want it engraved?' The man questioned.

James nodded, slowly opening up his palm that held the ring as if scared that it would disappear. 'Until the very end,' he said slowly before the smile took over his face.

viii. of nerves, a question.

He chuckled as she once more switched positions in his bed, accidentally shoving him this time. 'l'll leave if you want, Cariad,' he said placing a kiss on the top of her head.

'No, you're warm,' she moaned softly, pressing her lips against his neck as he made to get up. He resisted the small moan that wanted to escape his lips. He didn't think he could afford to let her know how much those tiny actions affected him, how much of him she had control of. He trusted her to never break that part of him though, so perhaps it was more for his pride than anything else.

His hand stroked her curls gently, 'We have to get up soon, you know?' He watched her as she closed her eyes, observing the freckles on her face that he had to resist kissing while in public in order to be "professional" about their duties. He didn't resist doing so now. 'We have the prefects meeting in an hour,' he mumbled onto her skin.

She looked up to glare at him but the blush on her cheeks didn't leave much room to be terrified. 'Stop ruining the mood, Potter.' Her eyes held a glint to them as she repositioned her head on his chest. 'I'm trying to enjoy myself.'

Those words made him speechless for a moment. He coughed before saying in a semi-hoarse tone, 'And did you enjoy yourself?' He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly before placing a kiss on her nose. Her cheeks reddened once more, before making a request for James to "shut it." He laughed and began playing with the shirt she wore (his shirt), moving it to the side so he could feel the skin underneath, his fingers playfully dancing across it in the way that caused her to shiver.

'James,' she said in faux exasperation, a hint of a smile present on her face. He placed another kiss on her neck before pulling away.

He grinned his lopsided grin at her, the smile that was only ever for Lily (and occasionally Professor McGonagall). The dimpled grin that Lily had to resist the urge to kiss when they had been friends. Really, it was quite a beautiful dimple, she thought as she let one of her fingers touch it tentatively.

'What are you doing,' he asked in awe. He was looking at her with warm eyes that could have melted her right there, eyes that felt as if they could move the entire universe if he asked. She couldn't believe that she had ever thought those eyes were brown. They weren't brown, they were Lily-Evans-melting hazel eyes that deserved an award for their mischievous glint that usually lied behind them. She adored them, adored him.

'You have a dimple,' she said in a dazed tone. 'Right there,' she poked the spot where the dimple had been moments before. 'I like it.'

James flushed lightly. He was always surprised when she mentioned one of the things she liked about him, not that he should be surprise that Lily (his amazing girlfriend) was saying those things. He was often left with the feeling that it couldn't be real, that he couldn't have gotten this fortunate to have her reciprocate his feelings, but he had. He had gotten lucky enough to have her as his girlfriend, have Lily who told him that she loved his glasses when he would get insecure around her whenever they would occasionally (or not so occasionally) bump into her face while they were kissing. Have Lily who said she loved his messy hair despite having stated otherwise in their youth. Have Lily who loved that he couldn't be still for very long without having to move like a tornado wreaking havoc wherever it went. Most importantly, he was lucky to have Lily who loved him and who he loved in every sense. He knew not everyone could be so lucky.

He couldn't help smiling down at her again, her face lit up. 'See, right here.' She leant up and placed a kiss on it, squealing in surprise as James rolled them over. 'We have an hour, James,' she giggled as he placed kisses down her neck, the hand that wasn't cradling her face was moving down under her shirt.

'Lily, Lily, Lily,' he chanted lightly, making sure she could feel every syllable on her skin. Merlin, he loved her, loved her so much that he didn't think he could handle the mind-consuming feeling of loving her at times.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved his lips back to her mouth. He groaned against her before releasing her and nuzzling into her neck. She stroked his hair softly, carefully causing a smile to make itself onto his face.

'You're a bit mad, aren't you?' Her finger continued their ministrations on his hair, eliciting a soft whimper from him. He wanted to cry because he loved her, because he didn't ever want to love anyone else. She was it, she was everything.

'Marry me,' he whispered.

He hadn't meant to say it, not now. Not in this moment, he had had everything planned for how he would ask. It was going to be perfect. He felt himself flinch, he couldn't dare look up at her and instead chose to hide himself in her neck. He felt very much like a child in the moment, but it was a very beautiful neck to hide his embarrassment in.

'James?' she questioned as she detached herself from him. 'Do you mean it?' Her eyes searched his for an answer. 'Do you want me to marry you?'

He felt like he had just had his voice taken away from him–she had stolen his voice, that was the only explanation for why he couldn't so much as utter a single syllable. If he hadn't been sure she was a Muggle-born, he would have questioned whether she was part-Veela.

He nodded slowly, aware that he currently looked like an utter mess.

'Yes,' she said, tears in the green eyes staring at him. Her face glowing as if she had just won a million galleons before she threw her arms around his neck, kissing his neck, jaw, every surface within her reach. It took him a moment before he was able to process what she had said.

Hesitantly he stopped her kissing, taking her face delicately in between his hands. 'Yes,' he asked as he stroked her cheeks gently, wiping away stray tears.

She sent him the biggest grin he'd ever seen before leaning up and kissing him again. 'Yes, I'll marry you, James Fleamont Potter.'

He felt tears in his own eyes. 'I have a ring for you,' he said softly, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. Hesitantly rolling off of her, he pulled the box from his bedside table. 'Get dressed, Cariad, I want to do it properly.'

Lily threw her head back and let out a soft, euphoric laugh, 'I already said yes.' Her eyes stared at him incredulously.

He leant down to kiss her, a lovesick smile on his face. 'I know, but I'm not telling our children that I proposed to their mother while we were snogging in bed.' He pressed a kiss to her head before pulling on his robes over his head.

'No one told me I was pregnant,' she teased as she got up. She had just managed to pull on her trousers before James' hand had latched onto hers, barely giving her enough time to put on her shoes and grab her robes from the floor before dragging her down a multitude of stairs and corridors until they were at James' favourite tree. The same tree where she had once rejected him in favour of the Giant Squid, the same one where he had once carved their initials on a piece of bark accompanied with Lily's carving of a heart underneath. It was their tree.

'Lily Evans, cariad,' he began as he got down on one knee. He was shaking slightly. 'I had an entire speech written that is probably shite, and I think I mentioned the colour of your eyes at least twenty times, but all I really want to say is that I love you more than anything, Lil. I want to marry you and have a family with you. I want to grow old and embarrass our children together and tell them all the stories about how I was an idiot who could only hope to capture your heart like you had mine and somehow did. I want to make you as happy as you make me because you're it for me, Evans. There's no going back, I'm yours, and I love you and promise to always be there for you for the rest of our lives. So do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?'

'Yes, you prat,' she said, tears making their way down her face once more. 'And you do make me happy, happier than I have ever been.'

He slid the ring onto her finger, the green stones on the side of the diamond matching the colour of her eyes.

'You're stuck with me now, Evans,' he joked.

She threw herself into his arms again, whispering her love for him into his ear as he held her tightly against him, reveling in his state of exultation, pressing kisses on her skin like he had done in his dorm. It felt surreal that she had just agreed to marry him, but he couldn't be happier than he was now. Things don't always go to plan, but sometimes it's better if they don't, he thought as her lips met his.

They arrived late for the meeting, not that they minded all that much. Their robes were wrinkled, hair tousled, and lips swollen.

'Sorry we're late,' Lily said as they shuffled in, moving her fingers to tie up her red locks. There were whispers as the prefects took note of the beautiful and luxurious ring on her left hand.

James took Lily's hand in his, daring anyone to comment as he began speaking. His eyes softening when he turned it over to Lily who rewarded him with a smile.

He could feel a glare aimed his way, but nothing would ruin this feeling for him. He would be married to Lily by next year, and not even Snape would be able to shatter James' happiness. Snape and the rest of the world could scorn them for all he cared, because they were inconsequential in the midst of his happiness with Lily, the happiness that would carry him through the war.

ix. of before, a forever

He lied on Sirius' bed, fidgeting with the golden snitch he had nicked in his fifth-year. The snitch that he had once used to try to impress his fiancée. He grinned at the memory, he really had been an idiot when it came to her. Still was if he was being honest with himself, but it was a more endearing kind than he had committed in his earlier years.

'Prongs,' Sirius said exhausted as he came back into his room. 'Just go see her.'

'Can't,' he sighed. 'Mum would murder me, she wants to follow all the Muggle traditions that Rose was telling her about, which includes not seeing the bride the night before.' A pout formed on his face. 'I miss her.'

Sirius threw his head back laughing. 'It's been two days, mate.' A look of fake hurt crossed his face as he said, 'You don't complain about missing Wormtail, Moony, or me when you haven't seen us.'

James chuckled. Sirius was the only other person aside from Lily who could make him feel better when he felt like a chaotic mess. 'I can't snog you,' he joked.

Sirius winked at James teasingly, 'No one's stopping you.'

He snorted. 'Careful, Padfoot, I'll be a married man tomorrow.'

'Evans and I have talked about this, she accepts it as long as she can falsely claim to having better hair.'

'She does have better hair,' James said with a lovesick smile on his face. 'Merlin, her hair is gorgeous. And her eyes. And the freckles, have you noticed how cute her freckles are? And also her laugh, I…'

Sirius sat down besides James, snatching the snitch from James' hand. 'I thought I wouldn't have to hear that once you two idiots proclaimed your love for each other.' He laughed lightheartedly. 'Prongs, screw traditions, I did. Just go see her.'

'But Moony and Wormtail are supposed to be here soon.'

'I don't think they'll mind too much, and I can get them plastered on my own.' His eyes held a softness to them that was only ever present with a select few. 'Go see Lily, I'm sure she's dying to see you too.'

'Really?' There was a vulnerability present.

'Really.' He handed James back the snitch, 'Go.'

'Thanks, Padfoot.' He grinned at his best friend and saluted him before apparating outside his home in Wales, walking the distance that placed him right outside his room. He grinned as he saw her outside on the balcony, her back to him.

'All right, Evans?' he shouted knowing that his parents and Mrs Evans would be asleep by now.

She turned around before he could so much as blink. 'James,' she said softly. The sound of his name on her lips almost broke him. 'What are you doing here?'

'I missed you,' he answered truthfully. He gave her a bashful grin, 'C'mere?'

She laughed but a second later she had apparated down to him. 'I missed you too.' She pressed her lips to his briefly before giving him a once over and giggling. 'I like your joggers.'

He looked down at the article of clothing in question that were covered in a pattern of animated deer. James grinned at her, pulling her in for another kiss. 'Sirius thought it would be fun to put a spell on them,' he mumbled on her lips.

She pulled away once more, taking his hand instead. 'Can we go for a walk?'

He nodded. 'Of course, cariad.'

So they walked, speaking of nothing important until they got to what he knew was her favorite spot near the manor. A hill that overlooked a lake. He had shown it to her the summer before their seventh-year. Had almost kissed her had it not been for an impatient Sirius who had gone looking for them.

She liked looking at the stars from here, and he had to agree that they were gorgeous from this spot. But they would never be his first focus when she would always draw his attention from anything else when in the same room.

She lied down on the grass and waited for him to do the same. 'James,' her voice was quiet, 'we're getting married in ten hours.'

'Are you regretting it?' he watched her carefully, looking for any sign to confirm or deny it.

'No,' she laughed. 'Never.'

He let out a sigh of relief. 'All right, what's on your mind then?' He shifted to lying on his side so he could face her, placing a quick kiss to her forehead.

'I'm happy.' Her eyes shifted to his face. 'You make me so happy, and it scary to think that maybe the feeling won't last.' With the war, was unsaid but understood.

'I know the feeling,' there was not much that could be said there, no false assurance that everything would be okay. 'I'm scared too.' He let his fingers move to play with a piece of her hair. 'Terrified, but I'm not going to let anything ruin this feeling. I'm marrying you tomorrow, Lily Evans, I've been dreaming of this since I was fifteen.' He kissed her cheek delicately, 'Nothing else matters to me right now.'

'You would have married me at fifteen?' She teased, shifting to lie on her side as well.

'Of course,' he laughed. 'Sirius even got ordained.'

She let out a beautiful laugh that stole his heart over and over again.

'I love you,' she said proudly, kissing him on the tip of his nose.

'I love you too, Lil.' Another kiss was pressed onto his cheek. Then his neck. Forehead. Jaw. Any piece of skin within her reach.

'Do me a favour, Lily?' he mumbled as her lips touched his.

'Anything,' she said. The intensity of it would have terrified him had his not matched.

He dug into the pocket of his joggers, taking out the golden snitch. 'Use this as your something borrowed? Your mum told me you still needed something, so I thought maybe…you know?' He shrugged self-consciously before ruffling his hair.

Lily looked at him in adoration, carefully taking the snitch from his hand. 'You're letting me borrow your snitch?'

'I only nicked it to impress you,' he confessed. 'I thought it would make me seem cool.'

Lily giggled before kissing him again. 'I thought you were such a dork,' she mumbled onto his lips. 'I wasn't wrong.'

x. of protection, another

It came a week early. A week that would have saved their lives but condemned the wizarding world, perhaps the entire world. Instead, as the universe would have it, Lily Evans went into labour on the morning of July thirty-first, nineteen-eighty, and it wasn't beautiful.

It was painful and nerve-wrecking and involved a lot crying (from Lily, James, and even Sirius who had to leave the room and who would later deny it ever happening and would tease James for crying more than Lily had). It involved a lot of reassurance from James that she could do it, that she would be an amazing mother.

He, meaning James, cried as the healer let him sever the umbilical cord, before she took the baby and cleaned him up. She brought him back minutes later, placing him in Lily's arms. She couldn't stop crying, but James thought she looked like a lovely mess (and he's never loved her more than he did in that moment when he thought that heart could no longer handle so much love but did so anyways).

He approached them slowly. His breath lost as he looked at the two loves of his life, if you didn't include Sirius.

'Does he have a name?' The healer asked, a piece of parchment and quill enchanted to float above her, waiting to inscribe the response.

'Harry James Potter,' Lily managed to get out, looking at the small child in her arms with so much love that it seemed surreal that he hadn't been a tangible being until today.

He watched her, mesmerized by her words. They had said the middle name one night as a joke, he hadn't considered that she actually wanted it, that she would actually be proud to let their child have another part of his name.

He reached her, placing a small kiss on top of her head. 'Hi,' he said softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

She rested her head against him. 'Hi,' she said, her voice sounding content albeit tired.

'I love you,' he told her, placing another kiss on her head. 'And Harry.' He carefully placed his other hand on his son's cheek.

'I love you too.' He smiled as her eyes began to flutter before she drifted off.

By the end of July thirty-first of nineteen-eighty, James had another person that he vowed to protect until the very last moments of his life. And he would go through with that promise fifteen months to the date, no regrets. He would make sure that his family was protected because he loved them and love was the one thing his murderer would never understand.

xi. of mothers, a howler!

The day after James and Lily had gotten engaged, the news had been spread across the school, money exchanged between both school mates (Sirius had made quite a few bets) and Professors (Slughorn seemed quite disappointed for more than one reason as he handed Professor McGonagall a few galleons and a crystallised pineapple to the headmaster, for all knew of his distaste for James Potter and his adoration for Lily Evans). The thing, however, that people would remember for weeks to come wasn't the way the bets or look of disappointment from others but the owls. Or, specifically, a tawny owl that dropped a red envelope in front of one James Fleamont (as they would learn was his middle name) Potter.

Any rational witch or wizard would have had the common sense to look fearful in that moment, but James was never known to be ordinary.

Instead of shying away from it, he let it explode with a grin to his face, his fiancée shaking her head with a small smile present, followed by a small laugh.

'JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER, HOW DARE YOU NOT WRITE US THE MOMENT THAT LILY AGREED TO MARRY YOU? I GAVE BIRTH TO YOU AND THIS IS THE THANKS YOUR FATHER AND I GET FROM YOU IN OUR OLD AGE!' James chuckled at his mother's dramatic antics much to the Hall's surprise. 'WE HAD TO HEAR IT FROM YOUR BROTHER THAT SHE HAD SAID YES, AND HERE WE WERE WORRIED THAT YOU HAD SCARED THE POOR GIRL OFF!' A small blush coated his cheeks at that and was soon comforted by Lily pressing a kiss to it as his traitor of a brother laughed.

'I can't be scared off that easily, Potter,' she said softly.

'Good to know,' he replied happily.

The howler turned to Sirius next, Fleamont Potter's voice now intervening, 'THANK YOU FOR LETTING US KNOW, SON. WE LOVE YOU, AND PLEASE DON'T TEASE YOUR BROTHER TOO MUCH, EVEN IF HE DOES DESERVE IT FOR KEEPING US IN THE DARK.'

'It's been less than a day,' James whispered to Lily who laughed against him.

As if hearing him, the howler turned back to them, once more in his mother's voice, 'YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO HAPPY FOR BOTH OF YOU, JAMIE.' It turned to Lily, 'WE LOVE BOTH OF YOU. FLEAMONT WANTS TO OFFICIALLY WELCOME YOU TO THE FAMILY, LILY, AND INVITES YOU TO HELP HIM AND SIRIUS EMBARRASS JAMES IN THE NEAR FUTURE. HE ALSO ASKS THAT YOU PLEASE WRITE. WE'LL SEE ALL OF YOU IN A FEW WEEKS, THAT MEANS YOU TOO, PETER AND REMUS.'

Those in the Great Hall would remember the look of happiness on James Potter's face as Lily Evans had her arms wrapped around him, kissing him lightly on the cheek. In them, they saw a happiness that had been managed despite the war.

There were still those who hated the idea of their marriage, The blood traitor and mudblood. Potter and Evans. James and Lily. But in her, he found his happiness and in him, she found hers.

#jily #James potter #lily evans #to be tagged

33 notes · View notes

padfootagain · 7 years ago

Text

All That The Wind Carries

Chapter 1 : One Year, Two Schools

So... this is a story I’ve been posting on fanfiction.net, but I have a massive writer block on it. So I’m trying to edit it to get back to it. I’ll be posting the chapters here too as I edit them, I’m sure It's going to give me some motivation.

This is an AU. It’s Jily and Blackinnon. It’s gonna be a long ride... I hope you all like it. Tell me what you think about it :)

Word Count : 5350

It was strange not to go to back Hogwarts.

It was strange not to go to the train station, not to run through the wall to the platform 9 3/4, not to hear the sound of the train as it was about to start its trip to Scotland.

It was strange not to walk with Sirius through the Muggle crowd, not to hug Remus and Peter on the platform after weeks without seeing his best friends, not to recognize Lily's hair coming out of the blue through a cloud of smoke.

It was strange to think that he wouldn't be at the feast this year, nor play a few pranks at the new students, nor see the Sorting Ceremony.

It was strange to think that he would not walk to his dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower, relieved to abandon his robes for his pyjamas, and claim a good night of sleep in the welcoming school he loved so much.

Instead, James was walking in Muggle clothes towards the portal of a private High School in London.

A Muggle school.

All around him, no one was wearing robes, nor holding wands. They were in uniforms, but only with a black tie, a white shirt and black trousers. No one was wearing gold and red, nor blue, yellow, or green. He knew that they didn't have schoolbooks about charms or potions in their bags, but chemistry and literature.

He didn't recognize anything as he walked through the wooden gates and into the schoolyard. The walls were all made of stones, and there were trees that grew through the paved yard, just like they did at the magical castle, but it wasn't his school. He couldn't find back this feeling of coming home that he felt every time he walked into Hogwarts.

Clearly, Saint Peter School was nothing like Hogwarts.

Although, there were some things that never changed...

"Well, that's what I call a statue," Sirius said, whistling and nodding towards the impressive statue of Saint Peter that seemed to watch over the yard, its serious figure staring at them with a disapprobative glance. "Even in Hogwarts, this lad would look proud."

"It would make a good friend for Mourning Myrtle," James answered.

Sirius laughed, but the boy on their right merely rolled his eyes.

"We haven't been here for five minutes, and you're already being stupid," Remus complained.

"Come on, Moony, you can't deny it was funny!" Peter protested, finally catching up on his friends.

There was a flash of red, like a wave of fire through the crowd, and even if James could only see it for a second, he recognized to whom this hair belonged in an instant. His heart started to beat faster into his chest, and he felt his stomach doing crazy flip-flops.

"So... Ginger Devil's already here, hey..." Sirius said, a mischievous smile badly hidden on his face.

James merely walked on his friend's foot purposefully.

"Don't start, Padfoot."

"Come on, Prongs, relax. I'm sure you'll finally manage to seduce her this year. After all, she didn't jinx you that much last year... she only made your head swell once, okay, but it wasn't that bad..."

"If this was supposed to make me feel better, it didn't, Pads."

"You're always so touchy when it comes to Evans..." Sirius complained.

"Well, I don't know, perhaps it's because I've tried to convince her to go out with me for years and that all I ever received from her are shouts and jinxes."

"You don't have the most delicate techniques though."

"Oh, shut up!"

Remus chuckled, patting James's shoulder.

"Don't worry. You're Head boy now after all. And she's Head girl. You'll have plenty of occasions to hang out with her, and chat, and... try to seduce her."

James heaved a sigh.

"I hate you, guys."

"We know you don't, Prongs," Peter replied, laughing.

Sirius finally recognized the group of Hogwarts students that stood in a corner of the yard.

"Looks like we've found our classmates," he said, walking towards them, his friends following close.

They shook hands with Frank Longbottom and Caradoc Dearborn, along with some Hufflepuffs who played in the Quidditch team. But when James recognized Severus Snape in the crowd, apparently talking to Bellatrix Black, he couldn't help but frown.

"I didn't think we would see any Slytherin here," he mumbled.

"Apparently, they all came," Frank said.

"Why?" asked Peter.

"Trouble I guess," the Hufflepuff Seeker answered. "I'm sure they hope to fuck up the whole program. You know?' Muggles and Wizards will never be able to live peacefully together' and all the shit."

"Yeah, I bet they're hoping it will go ill..." Remus nodded gloomily.

"I don't reckon it would have been easy even without them..." Sirius said, nodding towards a group of Muggle students who were staring at them like they were animals in a zoo.

"I'm sure it will be fine. I guess... we all have to get used to it, that's all," Remus reassured him.

"Hmm... not so sure."

"Don't be pessimistic, Padfoot."

"All I'm saying is that... if there are some students coming from Hogwarts who want to make all of this fuck up because they're too stupid to think that we could all live as equals and in peace, you can be sure that some students from this High School will think exactly the same. We'll have allies and foes on both sides, and it's naive to think the contrary."

"It freaks me out when you actually speak intelligent things, Pads."

"Fuck off, Moony."

"Here, sounds more like you."

On the other side of the schoolyard, another group, made this time of Muggle students, had formed. They were looking at the Wizards and Witches with curious expressions...

"You think they're the students that we're going to study with?" Frank asked the four Gryffindor boys.

"I guess," James shrugged."Apparently, they started class yesterday, they already know who their referent teacher is."

"And we didn't have our traditional feast..." Peter complained.

"I guess we'll just have to follow them to class then," Dearborn said.

James merely shrugged again in response. But the suspense was not to remain for long. Soon, Albus Dumbledore, followed closely by Professor McGonagall and a Muggle woman who seemed to be the Headmistress of the Muggle school, walked into the yard.

"Your attention, please, children," Dumbledore said, in his loud and warm voice.

All the Wizards and Witches approached him in an instant to listen to his speech, though the Muggle students seemed more hesitant. But they approached anyway, and listened as well to the Headmaster of the Wizarding school.

"All of you who are gathered here have volunteered to be part of this program, that I hope, shall prove to the world what we all believe in. That Wizards and Muggles can live in peace, together. It's been five years now since our existence was revealed to the eyes of Muggles. And I'm sure that there is no need to remind you that the situation between our two communities have never been more uncertain. Many of us, in both sides, have suffered from all this hate, and I am sad at the thought that we all shall suffer from it again before it is all over."

He paused, letting his words sink in.

"But this is our chance to show the World that hate can be overcome," he went on. "This is our chance to show to all who still doubt that we can live peacefully, and that we all have things to teach and learn from each other."

The Headmistress of Saint Peter school stepped forward, and came next to Dumbledore.

"Until February you shall all study here, at Saint Peter School," she said in a very high-pitched voice. "During this time, you shall spend half the day together, studying Muggle classes. During the other part of the day, the Wizards and Witches will follow their own classes, so they can get prepared for their NEWTs. After February, you will all be sent to Hogwarts, the Wizarding school, where you will all follow Wizarding classes half the day. Muggle students will next be separated from Wizards to follow their own lessons and prepare their own exams that are coming at the end of the year. Thus, both Muggle and Wizarding students shall be ready to pass their own examinations."

"I hope you will remember," Dumbledore went on, his tone serious, but full of hope as well, "that this is a chance that will probably not occur again before a very long time. And if things were to turn ill, the tensions between our two communities would only rise. So, even if I know that you are only children, I expect from all of you to behave like the adults you have already started to become..."

He stared for a moment at the Gryffindors, his electric blue eyes fixed upon the four boys.

"Now, I guess we should all get to work," he added, and there were sparkles of mischief back in his eyes.

It was McGonagall's turn to step forward.

"Before I tell you which class you are going to follow this morning, and thus with which Muggle students you're going to study until February, I'd like to remind you that as long as you are studying Muggle classes, you cannot use Magic."

She intensely stared at Sirius and James.

"Is it clear for everyone here?"

They all nodded, though it was hard for the two boys not to laugh.

"We can begin then," Dumbledore nodded, but he was awful at hiding the smile that curved up his lips.

"The four houses shall be mixed with four classes from Saint Peter School," McGonagall said. "Ravenclaws shall follow Mrs Arthur's students to Mathematics lesson."

The Ravenclaws followed the group of students who started to leave the yard and head for the stairs.

"Slytherins shall go join the class of Mr Lewis for English literature."

The Slytherins followed the second group of Muggles that left the yard in silence.

"Hufflepuffs will follow the class of Mrs Willows for Physics and Chemistry."

The Hufflepuffs disappeared as well. And now, there were only the Gryffindors left, along with ten Muggle teenagers that stared at them as if they were in a circus...

"Gryffindors, you shall go to History class with Mrs Hamilton."

When James turned around towards the Muggle students they were already leaving the yard, and heading towards an impressive wooden staircase that climbed into the main building directly to the third floor. They then turned left and walked down a corridor, that seemed dusty and smelled like moist.

All along, no one talked. No one really knew how to start a normal conversation. No one really knew what they were supposed to do, except walking to class. And so they did just that, and James tried to memorize the map of the school already. He guessed it was just a reflex after all these years spent mapping Hogwarts.

First one corridor on the left, then turn right, second door on the left, climb up a flight of stairs, and then the third door on the left.

A Muggle boy opened the blue door, upon which the old paint was cracking, letting guess the colour of the wood under the worn-out colours. But instead of stepping inside, he turned towards the rest of the students.

"Hi," he breathed.

He sounded like he was afraid of these unknown faces. Lily merely smiled at him, a reassuring warmth in her green eyes.

"Hi," she answered, a little laugh in her voice.

She sounded amused. James had stopped looking at the Muggle guy. He could never look at anything but Lily when she smiled anyway...

"Mrs Hamilton won't arrive before 15 minutes," the Muggle boy went on. "Apparently, they thought it was best if we explained how the school works before our first class."

Remus smiled and nodded, encouraging the boy to continue.

"To make sure that we would all interact with each other, our teachers have already decided for us where we would sit in class."

James and Sirius exchanged a horrified glance... If McGonagall was involved in this, they would never be able to sit next to each other this year...

"So, the list is here on the teacher's desk. Let's go and find our seat, shall we?" the boy went on, before stepping into the classroom, and heading towards the long and old wooden desk at the front of the classroom.

Everyone gathered around him to take a look at the sketch of the room, searching for their names on the piece of paper.

And McGonagall was most definitely involved in this...

"Oh, Fuck!"

They all turned towards Sirius. His eyes were round, he looked absolutely horrified.

"I'm on the second row! I'll kill McGonagall for this!"

James finally spotted his name. He was on the first row, next to the door, on the right of the classroom. Sirius was on the second row, on the opposite side, next to the windows. There was no way they could interact during classes without being noticed.

"Shit, man... She's got to be kidding me!" he breathed.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"We've been in class for less than two minutes, and you're already complaining..."

"It does suck, though..." James replied. "I bet you won't be particularly happy to learn that you're at the back of the class either, are you?"

"What!?"

Whilst the Gryffindors were complaining about their position in the classroom, the Muggle students had all walked to their seat, without a single word.

"At least we're together Lils, look," Alice reassured her.

Lily smiled at her friend.

"You're right. It's not that bad."

Meanwhile, Sirius had walked to his seat, and let himself fall in his chair with a desperate sigh. Remus merely chuckle when he walked next to him to reach his own seat.

"It's not that bad," he told Sirius, as he sat two rows behind the boy.

Sirius merely glared at him.

"I hate you," he said, which only made his friend laugh harder.

Marlene McKinnon sat right before Sirius.

"Oh, wonderful..." he sighed, but this time his tone wasn't annoyed, it was mischievous. "Now, I even have an arse before me."

The blond girl turned around, glaring at him.

"Don't start, Black."

"Start what?"

"Calling me things like 'arse'. Don't you know you're not supposed to insult people every time you open your fucking mouth?"

"Language!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I just said you were an arse..." Sirius went on. "...And a lovely one too, by the way."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't start."

"Start what?"

But she merely turned back towards the board, and chose to ignore him.

"She doesn't seem to like you very much."

Sirius turned towards the black haired girl behind him.

"Nah... she likes me," he answered.

He offered the girl his open hand, staring right into her big blue eyes.

"I'm Sirius, by the way."

"Angel," she answered, shaking his hand.

He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was...

"So... how is that teacher of yours?" he asked.

"She's okay I think."

"Yeah, she's a kind woman," the blond boy next to Sirius added.

"Is there any teacher we should be worried about?" James asked from the other side of the classroom.

"Arthur is very strict," the boy answered. "And Mr Howley is completely crazy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he teaches biology. He's fucked up. You'll see. We have class with him right after Mrs Hamilton's lesson."

"When will we have our time tables ?" Lily asked.

"No idea," the boy shrugged. "Probably this morning."

They were finally all talking together. For sure, of not very important things, but still...

It felt good to see the ice melt between them all.

It was the moment their teacher chose to walk through the door and enter the room. She was young, not older than thirty, with long blond curls falling on her shoulders. She grinned at the sight of the teenagers all talking together across the room.

"Ha, I can see that you're talking together already. Perfect, I was scared you would all be a bit shy at first."

She walked to the desk, and put her coat on her chair, before sitting on her wooden desk, rearranging her blue dress.

"I'm Mrs Hamilton, and I teach History. I will also be your referent teacher in the Muggle school," she added for the Wizarding students. "So, if your Head of House is not at Saint Peter, it is me you have to call for. Before we start, I'd like you all to quickly present yourselves to the class. Let's start with you."

She pointed at James, and the boy merely shrugged in response, getting up and saying his name.

"What is your favourite class at Hogwarts, James," she asked.

"Transfiguration," he answered without an hesitation.

"What is it?" the teacher asked, an obvious curiosity in her voice.

"It's the Magic used to change the form of objects."

"Could you make us a demonstration?"

James shrugged again, and took his wand out of his pocket. In the back of the class, Lily cleared her throat.

"We are not supposed to use Magic during Muggle classes, professor," Lily told her.

"I'm sure your teachers will forgive you if I am the one who actually asks to use Magic, Miss..."

"Evans, Lily Evans."

The teacher nodded, before focusing on James one more time.

"So... could you show us?"

James turned towards the Muggle girl sitting next to him. He pointed his wand at her book, and with a quick flick of his wand, the pages turned into feathers, and a beautiful raven was soon walking upon her desk.

All the Muggles in the class looked at the animal in awe.

"That's beautiful, James! " the teacher clapped.

Another flick of his wand, and the bird had disappeared, the history book back on the desk.

"Well, thank you, James," Mrs Hamilton nodded. "Now, please, everyone, when you present yourself, tell us also what your favourite class is, and for the Wizards and Witches, a demonstration is more than welcome."

All the students rose one by one, and spells were cast (Sirius's firework in the shape of a dog was clapped for a long while), until it was Remus's time to stand and tell his name.

"My favourite class is Defence Against the Dark Arts," he explained.

"Dark Arts? What are these?" Angel asked.

"Dark Magic. Magic can be used to hurt people as well. And there are some magical creatures that use this kind of powers against humans too. It teaches us how to defend ourselves."

"But, you mean that only creatures can use Dark Magic?"

"No. We are taught how to defend ourselves against dark creatures. But we are also taught how to fight."

"So... you can use your Magic to hurt people as well..."

A rumour shook the Muggles gathered in the room.

"We are not supposed to. But there are evil people in both the Muggle and the Wizarding world," Remus tried to explain. "If we have this kind of class, it is to avoid that people could use Magic with evil means."

But it wasn't enough to stop all the whispering.

"Could you show us one of the spells, Remus, please?" the teacher asked.

He thought for a moment, before closing his eyes and raising his wand, a smile slowly forming on his face.

"Expecto Patronum," he said.

And all the whispers died out when a white wolf came out of the boy's wand and walked across the room in mid-air. It was like light in the shape of an animal. When Remus made his patronus disappear, the whole class clapped, and it seemed that the mention of Dark Wizards was forgotten.

But not quite yet...

"What do you use this spell for?" the black haired boy next to him, called Joey, asked.

"It's used to repulse Dementors," Remus answered.

"Dementors?"

"They are Dark creatures, they nourish themselves on happy memories. They steal all the joy from the world around them."

"How lovely..." Angel snorted.

"They are also the guardians of the Wizarding prison here, in Britain. It's called Azkaban."

"So... you have a prison especially for Wizards?" Joey asked.

"Yes, of course."

"So there are dangerous Wizards out there..."

"Like there are dangerous Muggles," Sirius answered in Remus's stead.

"So it's true what they say..." Joey went on, ignoring Sirius's remark. "About this Wizard and his followers."

Remus took a careful look at Marlene.

"Yes, it's true," he said slowly.

"Like the Free Minds Movement is real on the Muggle side," Sirius added, but he was once again ignored.

"So... there are Wizards who want to kill Muggles," Joey insisted.

"And there are Muggles who want to kill Wizards," Sirius replied.

"There is evil in both the Muggle and the Wizarding societies. It doesn't mean that we can't show everyone that there is nothing to fear in sharing our two worlds," Lily said.

"I know, it's just..." Joey stuttered. "Don't get me wrong, if I'm here it's because I want to learn about Magic and everything, but... It's still scary to think that some people are ready to do pretty much anything to make sure that we will never live together in peace. "

"But... I heard that some Wizarding families were attacked as well by this... Voldemort or something..." Angel asked.

Peter winced.

"Don't say his name," he shrieked, and Angel blushed as she saw terror in his eyes.

"It's just a name, Peter," James replied, his voice deadly cold. "Don't react like that, like you were just a coward."

"James is right," Marlene said slowly. "It's just a name. It is this kind of reaction that have led us to this situation. To fear and sorrow..."

All the Gryffindors stared intensely at her, and there was a moment of silence, broken by the teacher when she cleared her throat. None of the Muggles could understand why they were all staring at her this way, but it was obvious that something terrible had happened, or would happen...

"Let's continue," Mrs Hamilton said. "Maggie, it's your turn," she added to the girl sitting next to Remus.

Once everyone had been introduced to the class, Mrs Hamilton jumped down from her desk, and picked up a white chalk, turning towards the blackboard.

"Alright, there isn't much time left for the lesson, but we'll start anyway. Please, take out your notebooks and pencils. This year, we'll start by studying the 1920s..."

She turned around as the class was shaken by a wave of whispers.

"What is it?" she asked her students.

The Wizards and Witches had picked up their parchment, quill and dark ink from their bag, and the Muggles couldn't refrain their chuckles.

"Wait, are you serious?" Maggie asked Remus.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"You use quills?" Joey asked, aghast.

"Yes..." James answered, narrowing his eyes. "What about it?"

"Why do you not use pens and pencils?"

"I don't know... we all use quills and parchment," James merely answered with a shrug.

"When you will be done with talking about quills and paper," the teacher interrupted the two boys, an amused smile curving up her lips, "let me know, so we can begin the lesson."

They immediately stopped talking, and turned again towards the blackboard, to copy the title of the first chapter they would study that year.

"So, what happened during this period?" the teacher asked the class. "And for the Wizards and Witches, you can tell us about this period too of course. It is History class, and I intend to study both History of the Muggle and the Wizarding World with you this year."

As always, Lily's hand was the first to rise.

"Yes Lily, go on," the teacher nodded.

"The 1920s were mostly marked by the raise of the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald. He was very active in Europe and America during this period of time. It was also the period of rebuilding after the War..."

"Wait... do you mean that you fought during World War I?" Joey asked, aghast.

"And World War II," James nodded.

"Really?"

James nodded.

"What kind of fighting did you do?" the teacher asked.

"Normal fighting," Sirius shrugged.

"The British Communication Center is known to have been the most efficient and the safest service for the exchange of information during the two World Wars," Lily answered. "The British army was also most feared for its knowledge in dragons warfare."

"You used dragons?" Angel gasped.

Lily nodded.

"The British army was very good at it," she said, but there was a bitterness in her voice, like she didn't approve the use of magical creatures.

James smiled. It wasn't surprising that someone like Lily would not approve...

"What about this dark Wizard you were mentioning?" the teacher asked Lily.

"Gellert Grindelwald was a Dark Wizard. He wanted to reveal the existence of Wizards to the Muggles, because he thought it would provoke a war between us. And he thought Wizards could win it."

There was a heavy silence across the classroom for a moment.

"Why did he want to do that?" Mrs Hamilton asked.

"He thought that Wizards and Witches should not have to hide and be afraid of Muggles. He thought they were more powerful. He saw Muggles as enemies."

"Why did you hide in the first place though?" Angel asked.

"There are less Wizards and Witches in the World than Muggles," Peter answered. "To protect ourselves, and our traditions, we thought it was best to hide."

"By separating the two communities, it insured a certain peace," Remus went on. "Muggles usually don't like much Wizards and Witches."

"It was a long time ago though, the time when we used to burn Witches," Joey said.

James laughed.

"You never burnt any Witch. An elementary spell allows us to be completely protected of fire."

"You only killed Muggles this way, not witches," Sirius nodded.

"But the persecution was still there. Witches and Wizards were always hated, and they grew afraid quickly," Remus said. "It was best for everyone to separate the two worlds."

"What was your reaction when your society was revealed to us?" the teacher asked the Wizarding students.

James shrugged.

"It changed many things on a daily basis, that's for sure. I don't think they changed for the worst though. We don't have to be as cautious as before."

"What about you?" Mrs Hamilton asked Lily.

The girl shrugged.

"I'm a Muggleborn, so..."

"A what?" Angel asked.

"Both my parents are Muggles," Lily explained. "Although, I have Magical abilities."

"So... even with Muggle parents, you can be able to make magic?"

"It is quite rare though," Lily nodded.

"So you already knew everything about us," the teacher smiled.

Lily nodded, smiling as well.

"Now I can practice my spells in my garden without fear of being seen by my Muggle neighbours during the Summer," Lily smiled.

They were interrupted by the ringing of a bell, signalling the end of the class, and soon everyone was walking towards the door. But Sirius couldn't help but notice that Marlene was taking her time to pack up her things.

A bit too much for it to be natural indeed...

"Hey, McKinnon, you're okay?" he asked.

She looked up at him. He seemed genuinely worried, which was rare enough to be noticed. Sirius was never worried about anything. He was the always-confident-always-reckless-and-childish Sirius Black.

Or at least, he never showed his worry to her...

"I'm fine, Black," she answered.

"You'd better hurry, or you'll get lost throughout the school without your Muggle guides," the teacher told them, smiling.

They both hurried out of the classroom and into the corridor, and soon found back their classmates. But Marlene didn't seem so keen to join the rest of the students, and so Sirius remained with her, a few strides behind their friends.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Her tone was cold, and defensive. It was a tone he knew only too well. He had used it for years with James and Remus. It was the tone that allowed him to run away from conversations. It was the tone he used when he didn't want to answer a question.

It was the tone he used to avoid talking about his family.

"Look," he said slowly, "with all you've been through this summer..."

"I don't want to talk about that now, Black."

"I know, I just mean..."

"I don't need your pity, Black," she spat.

He stopped her before she could follow their classmates into the new classroom.

"It's not what I meant..." he added. "Pity is not what I had in mind."

She looked up at him. To prevent her from joining the others in the classroom, he had caught her by the arm. His hold was firm, but gentle as well. It was reassuring, somehow, like the gesture of a friend.

"I... I won't say that I know what it is to lose your family, to lose both your parents..." he went on, in a low whisper, making sure that no one could eavesdrop their conversation. "But I know what it is to find yourself in the home of a friend, and to have to act as if it was your own."

She could see that he was confessing something very personal, something he had probably never told anyone. She was transfixed, merely able to stare at his hypnotic grey eyes.

"I know what it is to unpack your suitcase in the home of your best friend," he went on, "and to have to start over. So... if you need to talk about that, you can come and see me, okay?"

She wanted to laugh. Sirius Black offering her his help... it was hilarious. Or well, under any other circumstances it would have been. The subject of their conversation was everything but funny though...

She gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you, I'll think about it."

He nodded, letting go of her.

"Let's go for a new adventure then," he said, his mischievous smile back on his lips, as he pointed at the classroom.

"What is it supposed to be about again?" she asked.

"Bio... something."

"I have a bad feeling about this class," she shook her head, starting towards the open door.

But Sirius was frozen on the spot, staring at something down the corridor, a serious frown on his face. Marlene followed his gaze.

Down the corridor, some Slytherins were talking together and he could easily recognize them from where he stood : Snape, Avery, Lestrange and Bella Black. Anyone who didn't know them would have thought they were not less innocent than any teenager in the school. But Sirius knew better. He had seen through their games a long while ago. He knew they were playing a game of appearances. They were wearing masks of innocence, only to hurt more in the end.

When he spoke again, his voice sounded stern and cold.

"I have a bad feeling about this entire year..."

*******************

Tag list : @brien-odylan , @geeksareunique @giggleberts @justanothermaraudersblog @sad-orange-thoughts @aylinnmaslow @haritini2000 @ladyblablabla @drinix @joelynnp @mxrihollxnd @mikeselevennn

32 notes · View notes

writingwitchly · 7 years ago

Text

New Year's Eve Prank

Pairing: Sirius Black x reader

Word count: 2k

L/N: your last name

Fun fact?: This was originally planned to get posted on the 01/01 at 12:00am, then it became 31/12 at 10pm and then I switched it to 10am, and it ended up being 12pm... I couldn’t wait for it to come out!

A/N: Agkdlghkefgkkljfkjfj (this sums up the whole process, I’ve edited like a 10000 times, and I'm still not convinced, though) / The Marauders are such good characters to put on paper, but I still prefer the Weasley twins. Anyway, may this post bring you a happy, happier, happiest New Year!

Being in couple with one of the Marauders is quite difficult, but having the handsome, hilarious, and turbulent Sirius Black as a boyfriend can be exhausting! What if he decides to ruin New Year’s Eve countdown? Hopefully, he knows a good way to be forgotten.

“Did you see his face?” bursts a loud male voice from behind the corner. Its tone is very jovial, which says much about its owner's personality.

“Of course I did! I was sitting right in front of him,” answers the buoyant boy's friend. He’s taller than him, with a few scars spread across his face.

“D’you reckon he knows we did it?” asks the smallest one. He’s on the right side of the group, and he’s having a hard time to keep pace with the others.

“I don’t think so. We’ve never used pink sticky glitter before,” assures the fourth, pushing his glasses back on the top of his nose.

The boys chuckle.

The four Marauders, the worst troublemakers and best pranksters that Hogwarts has ever known, are on their way to the Great Hall, discussing about their latest joke.

They’re on their seventh year, but instead of fully focusing on their N.E.W.T.s, they prefer to give the school the best - or worst, it depends of the point of view - ten months it has ever had. Basically, they want to seal their educational years with a loud bang.

Of course, yesterday’s Christmas banquet could not have been left out of their record.

“I’ve never seen old Dumbdy looking so astonished,” says the dark-haired one.

“Mind you, with sparkles all over his beard, he didn’t look as solemn as usual,” adds the one with extremely messy hair. He has nothing to envy to his other friend: they’re both extremely good-looking.

“You had the best idea, Prongs. Offering him a Liquid Sticking Glitter Spell in a flask of one of your father’s beard lotions was brilliant. Not that difficult to figure out, but too simple to think about when you’re about to use it, ” reflects the most serious-looking of them. Many get confused by his looks of responsible young adult, but he is as mischievous as his friends.

“Yes, but still. He wasn’t so amused after all. Are you sure he doesn’t suspect us?” asks the plump boy with a worried look on his face.

“Oh, come on, Wormy. Don’t ruin the mood. Plus, he was too occupied by rubbing his beard to see us cackling madly.”

Sirius’ reprimand ends the conversation, but not for long.

As soon as the four young men step in the Great Hall, an angry voices rings in the room. “James Fleamont Potter! What have you done?”

As a rush of long, red hair, storms toward the group, several people at the nearby table giggle. Obviously, the rest of the Marauders shot them angry looks and they quickly get back to their porridge.

“How. Dare. You?” shouts Lily, so close to James that he is squinting to look at her. “I was talking about it with Y/N and…”

Your friend can’t finish her sentence as Sirius pushes her away to get to you. In two steps, he reaches you to leave a loud kiss on your lips, playing with your tongue for a few seconds. That is how you like to start a day.

“Anyway,” continues Lily. You were so absorbed by your boyfriend that you didn’t noticed her speech has been going on. “What you did was just stupid. It was not funny, it was-”

“Hilarious,” you conclude. She turns toward you, and a shadow of relief on her face proves that your suppositions were right: she is not really upset about her boyfriend’s behavior, she just wants to avoid him getting into more trouble. “Come on, Lily, let’s say it. Pink just suits Dumbledore perfectly.”

“By the way, you should be happy, we were reasonable. This time we didn’t prank Sniv-Severus,” remarks James

“So you aimed for the most powerful wizard of all times. Very reasonable, indeed,” you sigh.

The whole group laughs, and James kisses his girlfriend on the cheek. The peace is back, for now at least.

“What about that Hufflepuff boy from third year?”

“He’s too short, wouldn’t be noticed in the crowd.”

“So Helena, from Slytherin?”

“Are you crazy, Pads? Last time we pranked her we got body binded for the whole charms class! She said it was a mistake, still Flitwick couldn’t find a countercurse. We better leave her out of this.”

“We said we wouldn’t bother the first years, and we can’t target Ed and Maddy again, we’ve done them three days ago!”

“That’s the problem, Moony. We’ve pranked half the world, who’s left here in Hogwarts?”

“McGonagall!”

“We can’t do this to Minnie, Wormy.”

Just like you thought, the quiet couldn’t last long.

As the six of you walked to your favorite spot on the grounds, the tree next to the lake, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were already discussing about who their next victim would be.

“Why don’t you guys take a few days off,” you suggest.

“And leave everybody else a rest too,” adds your redheaded friend.

The four boys look at you as if you had just proposed to cut their hands off.

“We can’t,” says James.

“It’s a matter of principles,” agrees Remus.

“It’s funny,” pipes Peter.

“Everybody knows that a prank is the best way to end the year,” finishes Sirius.

You scowl at your boyfriend. How irritating he can be sometimes. “For you, maybe, but not for the poor person that will be bathed in pumpkin juice or whatever else you’re planning.”

Kissing your hand, that he was holding in his, he chuckles. “No risk that we’ll bath somebody in pumpkin juice, darling, I promise. That’s too simple-minded. We want something bigger for New Year’s Eve.”

You were about to fake hurt because he called you simple-minded when a bell rings in your head. “You won’t do it during the countdown, will you?” You frown, afraid that the answer may contrary you.

“And why not, sweetheart?” His raised eyebrow just makes your anger get worse.

“You’re- You’re supposed to… I don’t know… People just…” you mumble.

The silky black hair of your loved one dance in the air as he laughs. “You mean, I have to kiss you?”

“That’s the idea,” you agree. “So we can get a- a good start.”

Your boyfriend gets silent for a moment, which leaves you the opportunity to shoot a glance at Lily and James. They too have stopped talking. The girl is looking at her partner rather indignantly.

“Sirius Orion Black, if you prank anybody during the countdown, I swear that I’ll never want to hear about you again.” Your tone clearly demonstrate that you won’t accept to come in a second plane after a stupid joke.

“That goes for you too, James.” Lily doesn’t sound very friendly either.

Remus and Peter haven’t said a thing since the beginning of this conversation, and their facial expression translate their relief to be single. However, they’re used to supporting their friends, so they don’t last long before opening their mouth.

“Maybe there is no reason to be this categorical, you know,” points out Remus. “You can put up a bet.”

James’ girlfriend was visibly interested. “What kind of bet?”

“Well, let’s say that if your boyfriends don’t resist the urge to prank someone during the countdown they will owe you, well, we can say-”

“A ton of cookies!”

Peter’s idea is quite funny, but both Lily and you nod. If there is something that these guys hate more than boredom, it’s cooking.

“Seems fair, but what if we do resist-”

“Now don’t make me laugh, James. You guys never miss an occasion to make somebody else look like a fool.”

And after Lily’s honest and, you unfortunately have to recognize, accurate comment, the conversation switches to more frivolous topics.

“Ten!” That’s it. A new year is about to start. The whole lot of students that stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays are watching the sky apprehensively, waiting for the fireworks. Peter is among them, his chubby face lightened with happiness. Remus is among them, holding hands with a girl you’ve seen a few times in the corridors. James and Lily are among them, in each other's arms.

“Nine!” And what are you doing? You’re watching the happy crowd from a dark corner. Not so far, though, just a few feet away.

“Eight!” How did you get here? Easy, Sirius’ ultimate idea of a prank.

“Seven!” Couldn’t you say no? Of course, you could! But he just insisted so much, and he put on that puppy face. He’s such an idiot.

“Six!” Right now he is pointing his wand at something that’s floating toward the crowd. It looks like a gigantic soap bubble. He will make it pop so slug slime will splash on everyone.

“Five!” Now that you come to think about it, the plan feels a bit blurry. You’re not really sure it will work without harming anyone.

“Four!” Maybe you should stop this, you’re running out of time.

“Three!” You turn to warn your companion, but he squeezes your arm to reassure you.

“Two!” The voices become louder, if it is even possible, and you can barely hear the music in the background. This is not going to end good.

“One!” Your boyfriend is about to-. Why did he drop his wand?

“Happy New Year!”

Is the crowd still shouting? It’s impossible to know. Things fall in your hair - confetti? coils? probably both - and people pat your back, but you vaguely feel it all.

Sirius’ lips on yours make the rest of the world disappear. It’s just the two of you in your bubble, floating like on a cloud.

You are not sharing the usual sticky, wet kiss. This one is soft, delicate, tender. It almost feels like your boyfriend is trying to apologize for all the pranks you had to suffer, the admonitions and the warnings you had to give. It almost feels like a promise to always try to make you happy, to spend the rest of his life with you, to share your days and your nights.

But deep inside, you know that this kiss not about the past, nor about the future. These are not the tenses you are living in. It is not about yesterday or tomorrow. This kiss is about how much he loves you, and how well you complete him. It’s about now.

With your eyes closed and your fingers running through his always perfect hair, you try your best to say that yes, you feel the same way. You love him. He completes you.

After a few moments of this mute talk, when the bubble bursts and the loud cheering make its way back to your ears, you open your eyes to take in your first vision of this new year. Sirius is looking at you, smiling, saying with his gaze what he was saying with his lips some seconds ago. It couldn’t be better.

“So what about that, L/N? Is this start good enough for you?” he asks, tightening his grip on your waist.

“Yes, I guess it’s okay,” you answer in a playful tone. “But that’s not what I’m thinking about right now, Black.”

“Oh, really,” he whispers, still grinning. “Then what are you thinking about, darling?”

“I’m thinking about…” you pause, wanting to add as much suspense as you can to your words. “The huge amount of cookies that you’ll have to bake for me. You pranked me, you... you daring... piece of clown. I thought I wouldn’t get my kiss!”

His reaction comes as a roaring laugh. “ I just wanted you to think that we were going to ruin everybody’s countdown. But fine,” he says. “I’ve lost the bet. But I hope that you’ll help me. I’m not good at cooking.”

“Of course I’ll help you! I don’t want to eat carbonized biscuits for the rest of my life!”

There is more laughing, and you know that you’ve said the right thing. Sirius much prefers a well shot sarcastic comment rather than a long and dull declaration of love. After all, you’ve just said that you want to spend the rest of your life eating his cookies.

“I love you,” he breathes. “Happy new year, Y/N.”

“I love you too,” you murmur between two kisses. “Happy new year, Sirius.”

#marauders imagine #sirius black #marauders era #sirius x reader #sirius black imagine #sirius black fanfic #hp fanfic #wizarding world wait for me #happy new year #prank #***writingr

131 notes · View notes

marlmckitten · 7 years ago

Text

(She Had) Just Enough Time ~ Chapter Six: Dorm-room Talks

Okay so honestly, this was awkward because I realized that I wrote like three days ago was also what the next chapter was going to be so this was all improvised while I probably just repost the same thing from a few days ago as the next chapter OR find a new thing to do just to mix things up a little. Again, idk why I suck at posting this, there is well over 50 000 words that are written and ready to go it’s just the editing. So this is short and sweet and mostly focussed on Lily with one small appearance from Sirius. Snape Haters rejoice, this is also where Lily finishes her friendship with him. I only glazed over it because this is not a Jily fanfiction and everyone knows what happens anyway at this point. Sorry~

Marlene and Mary’s relationship stayed very fun, flirty, occasional bedmates, but still most importantly- friends. No one else, not even Lily, fully understood it, since Marlene would still go from relationship to relationship, yet share a bed with Mary every now and then despite what else was going on. Only the four of them knew, and although Dorcas and Lily thought it was wrong that technically Marlene was cheating on each of her partners, they never said anything. One of Marlene’s girlfriends, did point out that she didn’t like the way Mary and her looked at one another. So Marlene told her that she could look at anyone however she liked for the rest of her days, as long as she didn’t try to ruin any of Marlene’s friendships again. None of them spoke to her again.

There was a small break where Marlene dated no one at all. It was after Marlene stopped talking to Severus as much, disapproving of his new ‘friends’. She had expressed her concerns to Lily, but Lily disregarded them. Saying that she knew Sev was going down a dangerous path but he was very sweet and loving an no one really seemed to see that side of him. But then there was a nasty exchange in the courtyard, of course prodded by James Potter, but ended in some choice words from Severus Snape and an easy snap from his best friend. That evening, Lily ran upstairs in tears, unable to keep it all in anymore and cried for the rest of he night. Wondering that if even her best friend would call her that, who wouldn’t? And how Sev ended up on that path and through her bitterness, she was still worried that he wasn’t going to be okay. Marlene held onto Lily, “You can only help him so far, Lil. He’s reached a point where he knows that if he desperately needed help, you would always be there for him. But, you can’t let him drag you down with him. His friend, Mulciber, is creepy. There is no better word for it, and I know you trust Snape, but you cannot trust his friends.

Lily finally agreed, but her quiet sobs did not silence until one o’lock in the morning when she finally fell asleep. By then Dorcas and Mary were there was well, with their sympathetic smiles. Marlene stayed curled up with her best friend all night. And the next morning, Lily rose, refreshed and ready to take on the day. There were challenges, like who Lily would pair up with in Potions, or spend her studying time with, and that was where the blonde stepped in, sacrificing her dates, for time with Lily instead, to help her ease into the fact that her and Severus were no longer friends.

And honestly, Marlene hated it as well. She knew it was for the best, but Lily always smiled around him, his sarcastic comments would make even Marlene giggle. And without Lily, Severus easily started down an even darker hole, until he would only sneer at Marlene a girl who had give him the benefit of the doubt for so long. And this was yet another thing that Lily could not forgive.

* * * * * * *

One night on the Quidditch Pitch, James tried to make a pass at Lily, but Marlene yelled at the top of her lungs while in mid air. “Come on Potter, you know I don’t hate you, but your arrogant expectations that just because a girl got in a fight with her best friend she is going to want you is ridiculous. Lily could do better than you and if you keep this up shagging Black you even be better for her than you would!”

“Who am I fucking now?” Sirius asked, strolling onto the pitch. “Practise was suppose to be over ages ago, can we leave yet?” The pureblood asked James, looking worriedly at the moon. But Marlene hardly noticed, she was too busy lecturing James, following him into the mens change room to go on.

“Seriously, give the poor girl a break. First of all, if you want her to ever even stand being around you, give her some space, don’t approach her and leave her alone. Respect her, smile when she looks your way and stop being such an idiot in class-“

Eventually she was cut off when the rest of the boys shoved her out of the room, saying how she had no business seeing their pricks.

“I’ve already seen most of them anyway!” Marlene yelled back, realizing that it came out as more of an insult to her than to any of them. But, as she always did, she shrugged it off. The words were already said, and there was truth to them, so what was the point of caring about it.

Something she did care about though, was that James seemed to listen to her advice. Even if he didn’t admit it. He kept distance from the beautiful red-head, and was polite and cordial. Even in classes he stopped being so showy when the year had ended and she was shocked that at exam time, James put Quidditch on the back-burner so he could instead focus on his studies. By the end of the year he came out with top grades in every subject, they won the Quidditch House Cup which even got James to be named returning Quidditch Captain. Marlene grinned when she saw that even Lily was slightly impressed, at least until he set out a bunch of firecrackers at a Gryffindor end of year party, which resulted in them loosing 100 house points, (fifty from Sirius, fifty from James,) and it was just enough for them to loose their spot as House Champions on the day before their end of year feast.

“He’s not atrocious,” Marlene giggled as they lay in their beds. Dorcas had yelled at them to go to sleep, while Mary and Marlene were sharing a bottle of champagne that they had stolen from the boys.

“He’s still got an ego that could do with some major deflating,” Mary laughed in response.

Lily nodded to her comment, “Mary’s right. I don’t care if he’s gotten less obnoxious, his stupid laugh still makes my skin crawl.”

Mary snuggled into Marlene’s chest, as Marlene drank from their bottle, “Marls, maybe you could go on a date with him, sleep with him, then tell everyone how bad he is in bed? That might make him shut up a little.”

Lily burst into laughter at that and they even heard a snort from Dorcas’ bed since she was clearly still not sleeping either. “Have you guys seen his body? I don’t care of he just lays there, I would ride him into the sunrise,” Marlene replied wistfully as Lily threw a pillow across the room that collided with Marlene’s head, “Hey! You could have hit Mary, or worse my champagne! Besides, I never would. I’m much too loyal to you.”

“You’re loyal to Lily, yet Mary is the one nuzzled all close to you?” Dorcas pointed out as she pulled her curtains shut and the other three girls attempted to keep their laughs down.

Lily finally lay down as well and Marlene shifted her attention to just Mary, running her hands through her hair and letting her eyes shut. “I’ll miss you all over the break,” Mary said sweetly.

“We can talk tomorrow!” Dorcas replied in her still very annoyed voice.

Lily sighed, “I will too, but before Dorcas murders us, let’s get some sleep”

Marlene knew she would miss her friends, she always did, but expressing emotions verbally was not something she did very often, so instead she yawned and repositioned herself to be more comfortable, falling asleep on the last night of their fifth year at Hogwarts.

#Marlene McKinnon #fanficion #Blackinnon #series #She Had Just Enough Time #Lily Evans #Marlius #Sirius x Marlene

6 notes · View notes

curiouselfqueen · 8 years ago

Text

Holiday (definitely not a) Drabble 8.DONE

For the every patient, kind, effervescent, beautiful @sableunstable

Part 1 .+*.+*.+* Part 2 .+*.+*.+* Part 3 .+*.+*.+* Part 4 .+*.+*.+* Part 5

A/N: This took me so long!!! But it’s done! It’s sloppy, but it’s done! Definitely thinking of editing the whole thing and posting it elsewhere.

Sirius’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t even had time to register the fact that he was feeling better before he was feeling worse again. Because James was right. Even if Moony didn’t like the gift, there’s no way he would ever let Sirius know. So he’d never really be sure the gift was well received and second-guess every single birthday, Christmas and anniversary gift he ever got for Remus.

“Wanker,” he growled under his breath before setting his sights on something guaranteed to be more pleasant.

Remus had looked up at the noise coming from his boyfriend across the room. The black haired wizard stalked across the room and stood in front of the other on the floor. Sirius held forward his hand with the butterbeers and Remus watched his wrist turn, offering one of them up. Trying to keep control over himself, Remus reached out to grab one of the bottles now dripping condensation. He didn’t graze his fingers along Sirius’s hand, was careful not to touch him at all. The werewolf focused on the cool touch of the glass on the palm of his hand while he carefully guided his eyes up Sirius’s arm to his shoulder, up his neck, past his lover’s lips until his blue eyes locked in with grey.

They stayed there frozen, breathing heavily for a few moments before Sirius slowly uncurled his finger from the neck of the bottle letting Remus take it.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair before dropping down onto the rug next to Remus, bunched up close as if the space was crowded, and swung his legs over Remus’s so that he was practically in his boyfriend’s lap. He set down his own butterbeer and reached for the one Remus was still holding in his hand.

“Here, let me,” he said as he twisted off the cap and handed it back.

“Sirius, you should get off me,” Remus started, despite his unoccupied hand slowly rising up Sirius’s calf and gripping under his knee. He was breathing slowly, attempting to control and calm down the wolf so near the surface with the moon a day away.

“No, I won’t. It’s Christmas,” Sirius replied, reaching out to brush sandy blonde curls off Remus’s forehead. “For once I am exactly where I want to be, with whom I want to be with,” he said softly, slowly leaning in, but stopping short just before their lips met. “And I intend to enjoy myself tonight,” he added with a quick glance to Remus’s lips, “thoroughly.”

Just as Remus began moving to close the small distance between them, Sirius pulled away and leaned back on one hand with a smug grin. At Remus’s growl, he picked up his butterbeer, took a swig, and scooched in even closer.

Hearing James and Peter approaching, Remus quickly rethought his momentary plan of grabbing Sirius’s butterbeer, throwing it in the fire, and taking him right there.

“You’re lucky the others are here right now,” he said lowly. Leaning in so that his lips were touching Sirius’s ear, he grinned as he heard the stuttered breath. “But make no mistake, you will pay for being a tease.”

*****

The night continued with more teasing and small glances between Remus and Sirius while the Marauders drank, laughed, ate, played games and relieved the best pranks of the past few years. James would occasionally nudge Sirius when he caught him fidgeting with his cuff and Peter pretended not to notice Remus staring at the opening in Sirius’s shirt almost constantly.

Breaking a lull in the conversation, Peter declared he needed to be off soon. “Mum’s making me help with the cooking tomorrow and she gets started much too early in the morning.”

“Presents!” James shouted from where he was lying on the floor. He rolled over and crawled over to the tree, grabbing his pile to distribute. The others followed suit, Peter and James tearing into their gifts right away. As soon as all of his were opened, both given and received, Peter headed out.

With an unsubtle glance to Sirius, James followed. “I’ll see you out Wormy. And then I think I’ll just go to bed. I’m pretty tired… Probably go right to sleep. Sound asleep… Completely unaware - Oi!” He whipped around to see who had thrown the pillow at his head but was immediately pelted with half a dozen more, pushing him out of the room.

“Git,” Sirius muttered, listening to the pair of footsteps fading away and the crackling fire behind him. He heard Remus walking up behind him before he felt arms wrapping around his waist and holding him. Remus was radiating heat; his own personal furnace - which had come in handy many a cold night in the drafty castle. Though he was quiet, Sirius could tell that Remus wasn’t relaxed. He leaned his head back on Remus’s chest and tilted his head to the side. He felt the vibrations in Remus’s chest immediately and shivered when his boyfriend bent down his head to speak in his ear again.

“Are you trying to make up for earlier, Pads?” Remus was teasing him somehow, and he probably expected an answer but between the drinks and the way he was being held, Sirius couldn’t quite put together what the right response was supposed to be. The way Remus was slowly rubbing his thumb over Sirius’s stomach while moving the other to interlock their fingers and rub the leather cuff with his other hand wasn’t helping.

Sirius sighed, melting into his boyfriend’s arms a little more and Remus chuckled. “Are you just happy to have me alone finally, or is that my present in your pocket?” Sirius asked as he wiggled a little bit, earning a full laugh from Remus as he pulled one of his hands away. Before Sirius could begin pouting, it returned with a long, thin box.

Remus held the box and gently tapped Sirius with it when he didn’t take it right away. Sirius lifted the box from the werewolf’s hand, which went back around his waist and stared. The box was shaped almost like a wand box, except that it was shorter and maybe a bit thinner. It wasn’t wrapped in paper, but instead, a single gold ribbon adorned the black box.

Slipping off the ribbon, Sirius lifted the lid to see two charms sitting in the middle of the box. One was a golden wolf, resting with its legs tucked under itself, the head up as if it were listening for something. Sirius ran his finger across the charm, fascinated with the detail of the fur coat, ears, and even the paws. It looked like Moony.

As his finger brushed along the tail, he reached for the silver charm next to it. It was a flat disc, hammered to look like the moon.

“They’re charmed,” Remus said softly. “Turn it over.”

Sirius turned the moon to see a series of numbers on the back. As he began to tilt his head back, Remus answered the question before it was asked. “They’re coordinates. Mine.” Sirius turned in Remus’s arms, the last bit of tension in his shoulders gone, smiling, and a chuckle threatening to ruin the moment. “The wolf is charmed too,” Remus continued but stopped when he realized Sirius was straightening up to get closer. “Which I’ll explain later.” He was barely able to finish his sentence before their lips were fused together. Remus felt Sirius smiling, and just as quickly, Sirius was out of his arms, pulling the charms out of the box, tossing it aside. Realizing the charms were on a long leather cord, he held the necklace out to Remus, spun around and pulled up his hair. Chuckling, Remus secured the clasp once it was on.

“It’s not a choker?” Sirius teased, as he felt the charm rest on his breastbone.

Remus slowly pulled the necklace back, raising the charm to rest just against Sirius’s throat and said “Well, if you’d like it to be, we can always-” but he was cut short as his love turned around and he saw his wolf resting there against pale skin.

In two seconds Sirius was back in his arms, and he was snogging him within an inch of his life. Moony wanted this. Now.

It was only when Sirius began stumbling a bit that they broke apart and realized that they had been moving towards the doorway.

“Going somewhere?” Sirius chuckled. “You still haven’t opened my gift yet.”

Remus groaned, ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head a bit. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He turned back and started walking back towards the fire. “I should have had more of those brownies; I’ve just been so tense and when you liked the gift, and you look so good, I just-”

“Hey, hey…” Sirius said as he caught back up to Remus. “I wasn’t complaining,” he smirked.

Remus resisted an eye roll but let out a huff and turned to look in the fire.

“Here, Happy Christmas Moony.” When Remus turned back he saw Sirius with his hand outstretched holding a square box. “Wrapped it myself,” Sirius added as Remus picked it up and turned it over in his hand. Eyeing his boyfriend, he brought the package up to his ear and shook it.

“Oh, c’mon Moony, just open it!” Smirking, Remus tore the paper to reveal a white box underneath. He opened it and saw a leather cuff, just like the one Sirius wore. Except this was new. It didn’t have any blemishes or frayed corners. The leather was completely smooth and stiff, completely unworn.

Remus reached into the box, a bit surprised at the simplicity of the gift -- not that it made him like it any less. It was appropriate, in a way. He had practically marked Sirius with that necklace and now he’d have something that was trademark Sirius Black. He could feel Sirius waiting for a response, but his own thoughts were interrupted when he noticed as he pulled the cuff out, it began to change.

Slowly, a few dots began to appear on the leather. One by one, the freckled the face of the cuff until a shape began to form that struck Remus in the back of his mind. He should know that shape for some reason… The dots began to expand, turning into what looked like snowflakes, or… Stars.

Remus jerked his head up to look at an almost apprehensive Sirius.

Sirius.

Canis Major. The dog star.

His star.

“It’s um, it’s got a modified Point Me charm on it, so it’s always pointing towards me,” Sirius said as he began taking a few steps to one side, then the other. “See?”

Remus looked back down at the cuff and watched the constellation almost imperceptibly shift as Sirius moved.

“Great minds and all that, right?” Sirius said, now much closer, one hand rubbing his neck. Remus smiled down at him as he secured the cuff around his wrist, tossed the box and tucked some hair behind Sirius’s ear.

“Thank you, Pads. I love it.” He ran his hand along the stubble covered jaw and dropped down to touch the charms hanging from Sirius’s neck. “Do you like it? We can change the length if you want, or the-”

“I love it,” Sirius cut him off, placing his hand over Remus’s. “It’s perfect the way it is.”

“Good. It suits you.”

Tags I can remember (I’ll add more later): @ash-castle @mechengmama @for-witchcraft-and-wizardry

#wolfstar #my writing #holiday drabble #that is definitely not a drabble anymore #Marauders #marauders era #marauders era fanfiction #Sirius Black #Remus Lupin #James Potter #peter pettigrew #Sirius x Remus #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction

58 notes · View notes

acenancy · 8 years ago

Text

I Think It’s About Old Friends

This is literally a week late and I am SO sorry. I’m legit the worst Secret Santa ever. But work and family has finally freed me (for now, anyway), so here is the fic I owed you days ago, @jerememeknox! Beware: I haven’t read or written Jily in years, so who knows if this makes sense. Also, I wanted to add a lot more and at least edit this, but alas! Time is not on my side. Maybe I’ll go back and clean this up on my day off? I hope you like this, despite everything, babe. Heads up, @thewritingcrew!

(ao3)

Rated: T Word Count: 7,961 Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: Jily

1971

Not once since she met him has Lily found James Potter funny. Not when James convinced Emmeline Vance brooms are ridden bristle-side front, not when he jinxed his own friend Sirius’ feet to dance all through History of Magic, and certainly not any of the times Severus was caught at the wrong end of James’ buffoonery.

Lily has never even chuckled. Never even cracked a smile.

But when she steps into Charms the week before Christmas and candy canes are floating around the classroom, dangling themselves over light fixtures and fingers and long hooked noses, Lily can’t help the tug that pulls at the corners of her lips; nor can she stop the breathy laugh that escapes her when a candy cane loops itself behind the shell of her ear.

“Isn’t this wonderful?” Marlene asks, sidling up beside her

Lily’s eyes follow Frank Longbottom as he jogs between desks, a candy cane chasing after him. The shrieking laughter of her classmates cottons Lily’s ears. The sticky skin of crystallized sugar bumps against her hand.

“It’s...” Lily blinks at the sight of her classroom, dressed red and white around her. She can’t think of a word to describe the warm feeling this small bit of magic has filled her with.

“It was James,” Marlene tells her, nudging Lily with her elbow, “and Sirius and Remus and Peter. But it was James’ idea.”

And as though his name alone conjures him, Lily meets James’ eye across the room, through the throng of sugar he’s made dance in the air. He grins at her, lopsided, and only then does Lily remember to wipe the smile off her face. She replaces it with a scowl that she knows does not meet her eyes. Her small act of defiance is only cause for him to grin wider.

“It’s a nuisance,” Lily mumbles, pointedly averting her gaze from James. She pushes the candy bouncing in front of her out of her way before marching to her desk. “How are we supposed to get anything done with these things flying around?”

Marlene groans behind Lily, then snatches a candy cane from thin air and points it at her. “You need to stop being such a Snooge, Lily.”

“Do you mean Scrooge?”

“I mean you need to lighten up.” Marlene sticks the cane in her mouth and continues to speak around it. “You don’t have to hate good things just because James Potter made them happen.”

Lily responds by flicking a candy cane from her desk to the floor.

Marlene rolls her eyes, groans again, then slinks away.

Lily tries her hardest to ignore the candy cane debacle all throughout class, but it can’t be avoided when they’re dismissed and something taps her shoulder. Turning around, Lily comes face to face with James, who is looking at her from over his glasses, smirking, holding out a candy cane.

“Forget to take one, Evans?” he asks.

Vision trained on his offering, unimpressed, Lily shakes her head. “Nah, I didn’t.”

She almost laughs again when she walks away and hears James yell “you’re a real Snooge, Evans!” after her.

1972

It’s always been obvious to James that Remus is a werewolf.

He eats his meat dripping blood, becomes sickly one week each month, disappears during every full moon, and, while he isn’t a terrible liar, he can only make up so many stories to cover his tracks before the excuses become outrageous.

“Tell me again why you won’t be around next week?” James asks, careful to keep his voice low in the empty corridor.

Remus tugs James’ invisibility cloak more snugly around his shivering form. “We’re celebrating Christmas a week early,” he says.

“And why’s that?”

“Family tradition.”

James huffs. “What kind of tradition is that?”

“I just told you,” Remus says. “A family one.”

James snorts, disturbing the piece of cloak falling across his face. It bothers him that Remus doesn’t trust him with his secret, but James doesn’t push the subject. If Remus chooses to tell him and the others, he’ll do it on his own time. Until then though, all James can do is enjoy his friends awful fibs and sneak him to the kitchens for chocolate when he can.

And sneaking to the kitchens is exactly what they’re doing.

As they lurk along the halls, the topic of conversation changes to quidditch, then pranks, then how much oil they could wring from Snape’s hair; then, before they know it, they’ve tickled the pear and stepped into the kitchens.

Their conversation comes to an abrupt halt, however, when they snuck inside and see Lily Evans sharing a plate of gingerbread cookies with a house elf. At the creak of the door, she spins around from where she sits atop a bar stool. Her eyes narrow when she sees no one there.

“Hello?” she calls. Her sight is set dead upon James, and he swears the intensity of it will burn a hole straight through his cloak.

“Dinky thinks it just be a ghost, miss,” says the house elf. “The ghosts always opening Dinky’s door.”

Slowly, James closes the door behind them. Remus chuckles at the suspicious expression Lily wears as she watches it seemingly shut on its own.

“I think there are some things about this world I’ll never get used to,” she admits to Dinky, eventually turning back to the elf with a frustrated sigh.

“Dinky thinks Miss Lily is just fine. Dinky thinks Miss Lily is the best witch she knows.”

At that, Lily laughs, and James wonders how he could have spent almost two years around her, never having heard it before. The sound of it vibrates in his chest, tickling his heart, igniting sparks of confusion in his twelve year old boy brain.

“I didn’t know Evans knew how to laugh,” James whispers to Remus.

Remus shakes his head, fixing James with tired eyes. “She’s the smartest witch in our year,” Remus reminds him. “She knows how to do a lot of things.”

Frowning, James elbows Remus in the side, urging him to skirt the edges of the room. They proceed to raid the kitchens as discreetly as possible, searching for chocolate that evades them. All the while, James keeps an ear open to Lily’s conversation with Dinky the House Elf, listening to her speak in a way he never has before.

Lily has only ever spoken to James with agitation and biting words, but he still knows she’s a good person, in a vague sort of way. She looks after Remus when he’s not feeling well and patiently tutors Peter who can be thick as a rock when he wants to be; apparently she spends her nights sharing gingerbread cookies with house elves too, which is thoughtful if not a little lame. And she only has nice things to say about Marlene McKinnon who’s a real crab to most people, and Mary MacDonald who is so sugary sweet it makes everyone hurl; she even has nice words for her sister Petunia, who once sent Lily droppings in the post that she claimed her owl left on their doorstep back home.

It’s a side of Lily James never had the chance to see; a side of herself she refused to show to him.

He wonders how Remus seems so unperturbed.

“Maybe because my attention is focused on not knocking every pot and pan in the room over,” Remus mumbles.

James huffs in response. He’s only knocked over two pans when Lily’s stories distracted him. Five pots tops. He’s not going to apologize when she is really the one bungling up this mission.

Especially when James stubs his toe and curses, and Lily has the indecency to blow their cover.

“My friend Remus is lovely too,” she tells Dinky out of the blue. “I wish he were here to try these gingerbread cookies.” At that, she looks away from Dinky and directly at James and Remus, still hidden by the invisibility cloak. “But he’s more of a chocolate person, anyway. He would really love the chocolate that’s stored in the dessert freezer.”

James and Remus turn to each other, defeated. Beaten, they inch their way to the chocolate in the freezer while Lily continues on rambling to Dinky. They don’t even bother with subtly as they open the freezer, snatch the chocolates, head back to the ticklish peach, and steal a gingerbread cookie on the way out.

The next morning, James approaches Lily at breakfast, only the slightest bit embarrassed. “Those gingerbread cookies were good, Evans. If you can’t think of anything else to get me for Christmas, more of those will do.”

Lily doesn’t spare him a glance when she says “the only Christmas present you’ll be getting from me is some advice: check to see who’s in a room before you enter it. You may just barge in discussing how to collect oil from someone’s hair in front of their best friend.”

James feels the pull of a grimace setting on his face but he catches himself, pushing any guilt he may have aside. Instead of apologizing like he knows he should, James changes the subject to something more pressing than Snape’s personal hygiene. “Aren’t you going to ask how you couldn’t see us?”

“No.”

“You’re not the tiniest bit curious?”

“I am.”

“But you don’t want to know?”

“Potter,” Lily starts, setting down her toast. “You’re either going to tell me or you’re not. Since we aren’t exactly friends, I’m going to assume you won’t. So, this back-and-forth between us? It’s pointless-”

“I have an invisibility cloak.” Before he can consider it, James blurts the secret out, low and hushed, a confession. Watching Lily’s eyes go wide, he wants nothing more than to slap himself for being such an idiot. Why would he tell someone about his cloak? Why would he tell Lily Evans about his cloak?

Maybe because he wants her to talk about him to Dinky. Maybe he wants Lily to tell house elves he’d risk a month’s detention for being out after hours and the confiscation of a rare treasure just to get his friend sweets. Because James wants her to experience the same thing he did last night, when he learned her laugh and saw her heart for the very first time in the kitchens. He wants Lily to know who he really is, too.

“Why did you tell me that?” she asks him.

James lifts one shoulder, glancing around to make sure no one else heard him. “Because I want you to know, I guess.” He continues scanning the Great Hall. He can’t meet her eyes. He feels hot and raw, as though he’s stuck beneath a spotlight.

“I’ll talk to you later, Evans, yeah? The cookies really were good.”

He doesn’t risk looking at her when he speeds away.

Not until that afternoon when she sets a gingerbread cookie on top of his coursework in the common room. “Merry Christmas?” She says it like a question.

James nods. He smiles, small and sure. “Merry Christmas.”

1973

A suitable punishment for James and Lily’s disruptive bickering would be to separate them, Lily thinks. Put James in one corner of the Potions classroom and stick Lily in the exact opposite; remove them from one another’s lines of vision; make it as difficult as possible for James to jinx Severus or for Lily to fume at James so violently that his cauldron bubbles over onto his lap.

Professor Slughorn had other, less practical ideas.

Which is why Lily found herself partnered up with James for the foreseeable future, until they learn how to get along.

It’s tremendously stupid, both Lily and James agree. Not only do they have more ample opportunity to be at each others’ throats, but now they’re more of a distraction to their classmates than ever. James doesn’t mind the latter since his engine is fueled by attention, but Lily has always loathed being a nuisance, which James has undoubtedly made her.

Lily must admit, though: they’re a tremendous team. Between the snappy remarks and petty pranks since they began working together, they’ve managed to develop a partnership that is unparalleled to any of the others in class. With Lily’s uncanny knack for brewing potions and James’ willingness to get down and dirty, the last three potions they’ve brewed together have been near perfect. If they hadn’t already had high marks, Lily is sure hers and James’ grades would be soaring higher than ever.

It’s not something Severus if fond to discuss, especially when they’re assigned to brew Christmas Spirit for the holidays... and one of the main ingredients is mistletoe.

“You know Potter is going to pull something...funny,” Severus warns her. It takes everything in Lily not to roll her eyes.

“Potter is an arse, but I doubt he’d go so far as to corner me under mistletoe,” she assures him.

“You’re right, he and his dumb little cronies never go far,” Severus seethes. “Not when they charmed your hair green for two months or when they left dungbombs in my shoes or when they literally tied your friend Marlene’s tongue into a knot.” Lily does roll her eyes at Severus’ last point. He thought what happened to Marlene was just and funny until he realized who’d done it to her. “But no,” Severus continues, “Potter wouldn’t go so far as to catch you under mistletoe.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake,” Lily groans. “I’m not saying he’s an angel, Sev. I’m not trying to defend James Potter. All I’m saying is I highly doubt he’ll try to kiss me under some mistletoe just because it’s at hand and just because he thinks it would be funny.”

“He likes you, Lily.”

The wings of her heart flutter against her ribs. Lily ignores the feeling like she does every time Severus brings up James Potter’s supposed crush on her.

“I know you think that,” Lily says, “and you know I think you’re wrong. But if you’re right and Potter does like me, why would he do something that he knows would only upset me?”

“Because he’s dense as a stratus cloud?” Severus suggest. “Because he has no respect for anyone, including you?”

James can be foolish and he is undoubtedly a bully to some, but in the three years she’s known him, Lily has found that neither of Severus’ statements are necessarily true. James is smart when he chooses not to be dumb and his heart is big and open to everyone, even Lily, unless you’re a Slytherin. She understands wholeheartedly why Severus can’t stand him, but she refuses to entertain untruths because her best friend refuses to acknowledge every facet of a person’s personality.

“I’m not having this conversation,” Lily says. But she can’t help but reconsider her stance when she enters Potions and sees Sirius and Peter hanging mistletoe over Severus’ and Slughorn’s desks.

If they would pull pranks with mistletoe, wouldn’t James do it too?

But for the remainder of their project, everything is business as usual. The only thing James does with their mistletoe is grind it into pretty flakes and sprinkle four cups into their brew, pestering Lily while she stirs it clockwise 25 times.

They’re the first pair to finish, and when Slughorn announces their Christmas Spirit is flawless, he allows them to take a spoonful each as reward. The classroom feels cozy and warm then, everyone surrounded by a warm, cheery glow; the scent of cinnamon and holly hangs heavy in the air; Lily is excited for the holidays at once, and thankful for her friends, and her family, for Slughorn, and for her potions partner.

Lily and James peer at each other from the corners of their eyes. They smile. And for the rest of the lesson they have a pleasant discussion about the intricacies of fruit cake.

However, it all goes South when, from behind them, they hear an obnoxious cough and the snickering of their classmates. They turn in their seats. Standing there is Sirius, hanging mistletoe over their heads, sporting a devious grin spread ear to ear. “Well go on,” he tells them. “Show us what a real Christmas miracle looks like.”

Lily’s jaw falls halfway to the floor. She looks to James to gauge his reaction, only to see he’s already staring back at her, forcing down his laughter. “What do you say, Evans?”

It turns out the quickest way to defuse Christmas Spirit is to find someone to fill you with disgust and disappointment. The Potions classroom is dingy and cold again; her laughing classmates don’t flush her vision with affection but dampen her mood entirely; James Potter isn’t the best potions partner she’s ever had and a surprisingly decent conversationalist but the same old ugly bully he’s always been.

Severus was right all along.

“What do I say?” Lily fumes. Her voice is low so only he and Sirius can hear her. The heat of fury steaming from her is so strong that the mistletoe hanging over them sizzles and burns. Flakes of ash fall like snow onto both Lily’s and James’ heads. “I say I can’t believe I thought you were decent enough not to embarrass me like this and make me feel uncomfortable in front of half our year. I thought you were better than to have your best friend set us up like this, just so you can say you got Lily Evans to kiss you. I say Severus was right – you are an indecent human being.”

“Evans, wait a second,” Sirius interrupts. Lily barely listens to him. She’s fighting down the guilt rising from her stomach like bile at the wounded look on James’ face. She shouldn’t care if she hurt his feelings. He hurt her too. “James had nothing to do with this,” Sirius tells her. “I just thought it would be-”

“Funny?” Lily guesses. She turns her attention to Sirius, who looks annoyed at this turn of events but also just the smallest bit embarrassed. “Am I laughing, Black? Is James? Are you? Is anyone in this room laughing?”

The room has, in fact, fallen into an uncomfortable silence. Lily is sure her classmates are straining to hear whatever it is she is whispering. She refuses to give the Marauders the satisfaction of an outburst.

“I mean, they were-”

“Mate,” James groans.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lily tells Sirius. “I don’t believe you anyway.” She stuffs hers things into her pack, ignoring James’ quiet pleas for her to look at him. Sirius continues to stand awkwardly behind them, only speaking to tell the kids around them to sod off and stop eavesdropping. “The only person at fault here is me for letting my guard down and trusting you.”

She leaves the classroom then, ignoring Slughorn’s inquiries as to where she’s going and the whispers as she storms away. She ignores Severus too, who doesn’t look pleased but doesn’t look too angry either. He told her so, after all.

Lily doesn’t see James again until they return to Hogwarts after Christmas break. Luckily, Slughorn has smartened up in the meantime.

James and Lily are seated at opposite ends of the room.

1974

This last full moon has been particularly rough. Something to do with its size and the alignment of stars and mercury being in retrograde, which sounds like a load of unicorn shit until it isn’t. The strained political climate doesn’t help; neither does the stress of Christmas.

It’s all culminated in Remus tearing himself to sheds, slashes marring his already scarred face, tendons cut, bumps and bruises disguising the Remus James knows.

This time around, his pain is so severe that Madame Pomfrey gave him a sleeping drought to keep him under for days. He’s been in such a deep sleep, he didn’t even wake when the rest of the Marauders accosted Pomfrey and demanded to know why she couldn’t magic him back to health the way she usually does with everyone else and they had to be escorted out when her answers weren’t to their satisfaction.

But really. How can the woman set broken bones with a flick of her wand and not be able to vanish the scratches of a wolf? It’s illogical.

And the older Remus gets and the more the world changes around them, the worse his full moons are becoming. It’s devastating to witness. It’s frustrating not to be able to help; even more so when James thinks about how long it’s taking him and the others to become animagi. It’s been two years, and the most they’ve managed to do is give themselves snouts.

He doesn’t think that makes them terrible friends, but. They should probably be trying harder.

James has set up camp at Remus’ bedside for the evening, ignoring Pomfrey whenever she’s warned him about the time.

Visiting time ends in three hours, Potter. In two hours, Potter. In an hour and 43 minutes and 12 seconds, Potter.

He would supply her with a healthy dose of attitude if he were paying attention to her nagging at all. As it is, James is focused on his friend, beaten and bloody by his own hand, unconscious on a lumpy mattress.

He doesn’t even register when the doors to the hospital wing creak open and Lily Evans tiptoes inside.

“Visiting time ends in an hour, Ms. Evans,” Pomfrey informs her.

“I’ve just come to wish Remus a Happy Christmas,” Lily assures her. “I won’t be long.”

“You and every other rebel rouser who has caused a scene in here today,” grumbles Pomfrey, marching angrily back to her office.

James only spares Lily a glance when she sits beside him, returning his attention back to Remus just as quickly.

“How is he?” she asks.

James shrugs. “Well he won’t be skipping through daisies anytime soon but,” he smooths a hand down his tired face, “he’ll live.”

They sit in silence for a moment, James taking stock of every one of Remus’ injuries for the thousandth time and Lily examining his wounds for the first time, in horror. James can practically hear her heart breaking beside him.

“What happened?” she asks.

One thing Lily is not is an idiot. James is positive she knows Remus’ secret, even if Remus hasn’t told her himself. It took him almost two years to tell the Marauders after all, and while Lily is a good friend of his, she’s not nearly as close to him as they are. But she’s smart. She’s observant. And she cares with her whole damn heart.

James knows she knows. So he simply looks at her, steady, and doesn’t say a word. An understanding passes between them. Neither of them will admit the extent of their knowledge concerning Remus and his ailments but they will sit there, together, and put their differences aside to help him anyway.

“Thanks for stopping by,” James says instead.

Lily almost look offended. “Of course,” she says. “Remus is my friend.”

James nods. “I know.”

Awkwardly, she fishes something from her satchel, then sets it on the table at Remus’ feet. “I brought him chocolates, for when he wakes up,” she says “whenever that will be.”

“Pomfrey says not for another few days,” James tells her. “He’ll miss the Express back home. Probably sleep through Christmas.”

Heavyhearted, Lily exhales deeply, eyes closed. “He’ll be here all alone.”

“No,” declares James, aghast at her assumption. “No, he won’t be. I’m staying here over break. And so is Sirius. Peter, too. We canceled our trips home.”

James can feel Lily staring hard at the side of his head. His heart stutters in his chest. He refuses to meet her eyes. It’s no secret that James and Lily aren’t friends. Anyone could tell you that. But no one can tell you about the moments, like this one, when they take off their armor and reveal their hearts on their sleeves, only to each other. When he proves he’s not always the dick he acts like, and she studies him with shining eyes, parted lips, awe. When she shows him compassion, radiating from her so brightly, it hurts his eyes to look. That is the thing no one knows – the way they melt around each other, for each other, until their truest selves are on display.

“Right,” Lily says, blinking hard and looking away. “Of course. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Evans. It’s easy to forget what a great guy I am.”

She snorts, and they glance at each other, sharing a smile.

“You’re a good friend, James.”

He frowns, but nods. He could be better. “You are too, Lily.”

They sit there, at Remus’ side, discussing nothing and everything all at once, until Pomfrey gives them a ten minute warning. James ignores her like he has the rest of the night, and he hopes Lily will do the same. She doesn’t though, and she stands to leave, but not before placing a soft kiss on James’ cheek.

The skin her lips touched tingles and stings. He can hardly believe she’s real.

“Happy Christmas, Potter.” Her voice is a quiet hush, a lullaby. “You’ll figure out how to make this better. I know you will. Because you love him.”

James can feel tears sting his eyes. His throat shuts so tight he can’t even answer her. All he can do is smile, grateful, and watch her walk out the door.

1975

Lily doesn’t have much Christmas shopping to do. She bought a kettle that whistles actual tunes when it comes to a boil for her parents, a simple blouse for Petunia, and small trinkets for her friends. The only people she really has to get something for is Severus and Benjy Fenwick.

Severus is easy enough. He always gives her something sentimental but prefers receiving practical gifts himself. Since he’s burned a hole through the bottom of his cauldron, she figures she’ll buy him a new one. Benjy, on the other hand, is more difficult to find something for.

Lily has been seeing him for two months. He’s incredibly sweet, and caring, and kind. Everyday he walks her to her classes, sits with her during meals, kisses her goodnight. He makes her smile. Lily is incredibly fond of him and his company.

It doesn’t matter that he never gives her butterflies; Lily doesn’t think you should feel nervous about liking someone, anyway. It also doesn’t matter that she’s never particularly eager to see him, or overly comfortable around him either. All of that comes with time, doesn’t it? She’s sure she’ll get there with Benjy eventually.

For now though, she’s only focusing on getting him something for Christmas and remembering to meet him for an early dinner later in the afternoon. Until then, she’ll mosey around Hogsmeade with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary, and perhaps even sacrifice some time to the Marauders if her friends see fit.

Which, Lily assumes, they will. Marlene and Dorcas have had their eyes set on Sirius and Remus, respectively, so Lily has found herself in their company more often than not as of late. Lily wishes she could say it’s been torture spending time with the Marauders but it’s actually...not.

They really are genuinely fun to be around; Sirius with his outrageous schemes, Remus with his quiet wit, and James with his all-around wonderful sense of humor. Even Peter can crack a joke now and then. Lily has never denied that those elements of their personality were there – they’re the most blatant traits the Marauders possess – but she’s never allowed herself to indulge in them either. Now that she has...well, she’s never laughed as much in her entire life as she has this semester with them.

Much to Severus’ chagrin.

And, sometimes, much to Benjy’s too.

Lily supposes that’s only natural. Severus is an old friend, but a possessive one, and he often becomes jealous when Lily spends time with other people. The fact that she spends more time with the Marauders than him now surely hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Benjy’s jealousy is more specific. While Severus is resentful towards every person Lily hangs out with that is not him, Benjy has his sights set specifically on James Potter. Lily can’t say she blames him. She and James have always had the most palpable tension, and now that they get along, the nature of their relationship has become gossip fodder for the entire castle. It doesn’t help that James teasingly asks her out every chance he gets despite the fact that he knows she’s with someone else.

Though, to be fair, he’s been asking her out longer than Lily’s been seeing Benjy.

It’s not like James is serious, anyway.

“Of course he’s serious,” Dorcas insists. She and Lily along with Marlene and Mary are strolling around Hogsmeade’s town square, enjoying the crisp air and crunchy snow beneath their feet. “He wouldn’t keep asking if he weren’t.”

“He’s a jokester,” Lily reminds her. “He’s only joking.”

“Sometimes I wonder if he’s not,” Mary chimes in. “Like the other night, when we were in the boys dorm drinking firewhiskey-” Lily whines at the memory “-and he was staring at you with such adoration. Merlin, I’m getting gooseflesh just thinking about it! And he just whispered, so sweetly, ‘go out with me, Evans.’” Mary clutches her chest dramatically. “If only a boy looked at me the way he looks at you.”

Lily purses her lips. “He was drunk, Mary. Peter also accused Marlene of plotting murder against his toad that night.”

Marlene shrugs. “He wasn’t wrong.”

“My point is you’re all making something out of nothing,” Lily concludes. “Just because we laugh with each other instead of fighting now doesn’t mean he’s in love with me.”

“Au contraire, Evans.” The sound of James’ voice rings from behind her, and the girls spin around to watch the Marauders saunter up to them. “You’re my sun and my moon and my stars, and I adore you.”

“Almost as much as he adores me,” adds Sirius.

“Almost as much as Sirius adores detention,” Peter says.

Remus snorts, patting Peter on the back. “Nothing can compare to the romance between Sirius and detention, Wormtail.”

“You have me beat there, Paddy.” James stops right in front of Lily, toes of their boots nearly touching. He grins down at her, wide as the sky, and Lily can’t help the smile she gives him back. “Where are you ladies off to this fine afternoon?” he asks, eyes never leaving Lily’s.

Marlene, who has looped her arm through Sirius’, is already trying desperately to drag him away from the group. “I want to show Sirius that new Nimbus I was telling you all about,” she says.

Lily can’t recall Marlene ever mentioning anything about a new Nimbus to her, but she bites her tongue and plays along. “Mhm...”

“New Nimbus? I would have heard about a new Nimbus,” Sirius grumbles. “Did you hear anything about a new Nimbus, Prongs?”

“There is no new Nimbus, Padfoot.”

“James Potter says there is no new Nimbus, Marlene.”

“James Potter isn’t half as educated about brooms as I am,” Marlene says. She tugs on Sirius’ arm some more.

James guffaws. “Absolutely blasphemous.”

“I don’t know,” says Lily, “Marlene has never been wrong about a broom as long as I’ve known her.”

“Well!” Sirius exclaims. “If Evans says so...” He blows a kiss to James, “sorry, Prongs,” and allows Marlene to whisk him away. “Come along, Moony!” Sirius calls behind him.

With a shrug, Remus jogs after them, Dorcas and Peter trailing in his wake. It’s just James, Lily, and Mary then, until Mary jabs her thumb in some vague direction.

“I’ve got shopping to do for that person,” she announces, sly grin plastered across her face. “I’ll see you two later?”

Mary doesn’t wait for their response. She scurries away faster than a mouse after cheese, leaving James and Lily by their lonesome.

“You think she wanted to get us by ourselves?” James asks, rolling onto the balls of his feet.

“You noticed that as well?”

They snort in unison, then continue to walk around town, no destination in mind.

“So what shall we do while our friends look for this Nimbus that definitely does not exist?” asks James.

“Well, I have to buy Severus a cauldron-”

“Ooh, another expensive gift for Snivellus that the slimy bastard doesn’t deserve-”

“Shut up, Potter,” Lily scolds him, almost as an afterthought. “I have to buy a gift for Benjy, too.”

At this, James remains silent, simply bobbing his head in thought.

“I have no idea what to get him,” says Lily, filling in the silence.

“What does he like?”

“I don’t know?” Lily glances at James, grimacing when she considers how little she actually knows about her boyfriend. “I’m a terrible girlfriend.”

“It would seem that way,” agrees James, and he nudges her playfully when she scoffs. “You’re not a bad girlfriend, Evans,” he assures her. “Fenwick is just a dud. Nice bloke and all, but a dud. He probably couldn’t tell you what he likes if you slipped him a truth serum.”

“Don’t be mean,” Lily chastises, though she’s afraid James just may be right.

“Is it mean if it’s the truth?”

“Potter.”

“Sorry.”

They stop in front of The Three Broomsticks, James holding the door open for Lily to step inside.

“Buy him some liquor,” James suggest, pulling out a seat for her in the middle of the room. “What he really needs is to loosen up a bit.”

“He’s not uptight.”

“Just a bore. You’re right, Evans, there’s a difference.”

“You really don’t know how to be nice, do you?”

“Yes, I do! Did I not call you my sun and my moon and my stars before? Was that not nice?”

A group of students a year below them pass by the table as James says this, sharing wide eyes and whispering scandalously to one another.

Lily groans, rubbing at her temples. “The whole castle is going to be talking about our torrid love affair by sundown now. You know that, right?”

“Then Fenwick will break up with you and you won’t have to worry about what to get him for Christmas.”

“Thank you for your positive outlook, Potter.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Evans. Butterbeer?”

They order their drinks, and they talk, and they have a wonderfully pleasant time in each other’s company.

And, just as Lily predicted, by sundown everyone is talking about how she is cheating on Benjy Fenwick with James Potter. The icing on the cake is when Lily loses track of time and completely forgets about dinner with Benjy. So she’s truly not surprised when he storms into The Three Broomsticks, catches sight of James and Lily in a fit of uproarious laughter, and stomps right up to their table.

“Lily?” Smoke is quite literally billowing from Benjy’s ears. The sight sends James and Lily into another bought of laughter. “What is this?” Benjy seethes.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Benjy,” Lily apologizes. “I was just listening to a story James was telling me about-”

“Why are you with him to begin with?” Benjy snaps. His eyes flick between the pair of them, sitting across from each other, onto their third butterbeers of the night.

“We were just hanging out, Benjy,” explains Lily. “We’re...” Despite how splendidly they’ve been getting along, Lily is still hesitant to call her and James friends.

“You’re what?” demands Benjy

Lily glances to James, looking for a possible answer to Benjy’s question. James only shrugs, casually pushing his glasses up his nose. “Dunno,” he supplies.

Lily turns back to Benjy, shrugging the same way James had. “I don’t know.”

Benjy shuffles from foot to foot, gnashing his jaw and glancing around the room to see who is watching them.

Everyone is.

Lowering his voice and leaning into her space, Benjy hisses. “You’re telling me you don’t know the nature of your relationship with James Potter?”

Lily considers his question thoughtfully before giving him an honest answer. “Yes.”

Leaning away from them, Benjy casts his eyes between James and Lily once more before taking a slow, deep breath. “Alright, Lily,” he concedes, eyes cast down at his feet, rage barely under wraps. “I see how it is.”

“Benjy!” Lily cries, reaching out a hand. “Oh, please. It’s not like that!”

But the damage is already done. Benjy is flying out the door, humiliated, and Lily is left with her head in her hands, equally embarrassed.

“Like I said before,” James offers, bumping her shin with his foot beneath the table. “One less gift to buy.”

“Shut up, Potter.”

1976

James is in love with Lily. He’s not sure how long his heart has been hers, but he thinks it has been since sometime in Second Year, after the kitchens. She’s always been a part of him, the same as his friends, and his glasses, and the organs in his body. James wouldn’t be James without her.

It’s as simple as that.

It’s just a shame he didn’t realize it until after he made a fool of himself by the Great Lake.

It kills James to think of all the time he wasted fighting with Lily, teasing her, thinking all they could be was adversaries who sometimes got along. He could have been her friend, or more, or at the very least there for her when she could have used him the most.

It takes a summer of groveling and three months of being nothing but the most wonderful friend he could possibly be for them to even get to where they are now: sitting in their handmade igloo, a jar filled with fire between them, passing a mug of hot cocoa back and forth.

It’s strange to think only last September they truly became friends, when he held her shaking frame in his arms as she cried over Snape, and her sister, and her sick father, and the terrible names thrown her way like confetti; when James mouthed his apologies into her hair, rocking her back and forth, drying his own tears in her waves; when they fell asleep wrapped up in one another in the common room, waking up grateful that they’d finally made their way to each other.

So James thinks it’s safe to say he’d do anything for Lily, and she would do anything for him. Sometimes the things she needs from him are just so incredibly torturous that he fancies himself an idiot for ever falling in love with her.

“You need me to be what?” James balks, shoving the cocoa her way.

“My date to Slughorn’s Christmas party,” Lily repeats. “The only other person I know who’s going is Severus, and I know it’s only so he can corner me again.

“Lily,” James groans. He conks his head against the wall of their igloo. His eyes are squeezed shut as though he’s in physical pain. “Slughorn’s Christmas party? Really?”

“I mean, I can ask Remus if you don’t want to,” Lily grants him, “Or even Sirius or one of the girls. You’re just – well I would rather take you, is all. But I understand if-”

“Lily, you already know I’m going.” James laughs when he catches her pouting. “It’s just...Slughorn.”

“I know.”

“And Christmas.”

“I know.”

“And Snape.”

“Yeah,” Lily sighs, “I know.”

“Right. Well.” James claps his hands in front of him, rubbing them together mischievously. “When is it?”

The party is the weekend before Christmas and their last week before winter break. Lily wears a flowing navy dress that sets James’ blood running and a smile that makes his heart sing when she sees him. She holds his hand when they enter the party, and only introduces him to a handful of people. When Slughorn targets them for small talk and gloating, Lily allows him to step away for a while, and when Snape tries to capture Lily on her own, James swoops in and guides her onto the dance floor.

They make a dashing, unsocial, avoidant team.

Just like they always had.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” says Lily. James has one hand on her waist and the other wrapped around her smaller, softer one; her smooth cheek is pressed against his stubbly one; her breath tickles the skin of his ear. If anyone should be thanking anyone, James should be thanking all the Gods he can name, and Lily Evans for being in his arms. “I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she admits.

James tsks, guiding her across the floor. “Taken Remus or Sirius, like you said you would. Or Marlene or Mary or Dorcas. Or Peter if you were really desperate.”

“Not nice,” says Lily, and he apologizes.

“My point is, you had options,” James reminds her.

“Okay,” she allows, “but Sirius would have set Severus on fire if he came near me. Remus would have felt obligated to talk to Slughorn and driven himself mad with boredom. Peter would have scurried away hours ago-”

“Not nice,” says James, and Lily apologizes.

“My point is, no one else could have saved the day like you did.”

James presses a smile into her cheek. “The nights not over yet, you know.”

She hums, untangling her hand from his and wrapping her arms around his neck. He follows her lead, heart swelling and soaring, and wraps his arms around her waist.

“We can leave whenever you like,” she tells him.

James only holds her closer, feeling her heart beat in time with his own. “No,” he breathes, his voice barely a whisper. “Not yet.”

1977

“Are you scared?”

“No.” James is practically bouncing out of his skin, nervous energy setting his entire body on edge. “Are you?”

“No.” Lily is nibbling at her cuticles, beads of blood pooling around her nails.

“You’re a terrible liar,” James tells her, and Lily drops her hand, smiling at him as if he’s the greatest thing she’s ever set her eyes on. And he is, she realizes. He really, truly is. “So are you.”

James grins back at her so wide that Lily is afraid his face is going to split in half. “We’re cowards and terrible liars together, then.”

“I suppose we are.”

They break into a fit of anxious laughter, not stopping even when James pulls Lily’s face to his chest. “Why are you scared?” he asks her, resting his chin atop her head. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No,” say Lily immediately, shaking her head into his sweater. She tilts her face up to look at him. “I’m just nervous they’ll say we’re rushing into things. Give us problems. You know our friends don’t keep their opinions to themselves.”

James presses a firm kiss to her forehead. “Sod ‘em if they think we’re wrong,” he mumbles into her skin. “But I don’t think they will. They’ve wanted this longer than we have.”

“And how long have we wanted this again?” Lily asks.

“Second year for me. Fourth year for you. You were a little slow to catch up to the rest of us.”

“Guess that’s why I never made the quidditch team.”

“That, and your lousy arm.”

Lily nips at his collarbone, causing James to squeeze her body to his tighter.

“Why are you scared?” Lily asks. Her arms are wrapped around his waist, ear pressed right against his slow, happy heart.

“Because saying it out loud makes it real...and I never thought it would be,” James confesses.

Lily shuts her eyes, breathing the smell of him in deeply. “No second thoughts?” she checks.

James snorts, as if the answer is obvious. Lily supposed it always has been. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“Right.” Stepping away from his warmth, Lily laces her fingers through James’, then turns them towards the Fat Lady. “So are we ready?”

“As we’ll ever be.”

The Fat Lady rolls her eyes. “Just get a move on, will you? I can’t wait here all day.”

Frowning, James tells her the password, then opens the door with a little more force than necessary.

In the common room, their friends sit around the fire, chatting amongst themselves, enjoying the last of one another before they all go their separate ways for the holidays. Sirius is the first to spot Lily and James, and he throws his arms in the air and cheers when they squeeze their way into the group.

“Long time no see, lovebirds,” says Dorcas, smiling adoringly at the sight of them. “Ready for the holiday?”

“Hardly,” Lily tells her. She shares a frightened, secret smile with James, who kisses the back of her hand, still entwined with his.

The exchange does not go missed by their friends, who glance at each other suspiciously, then knowingly, then with big stupid grins.

“Why?” asks Peter, the only one still oblivious.

It’s Marlene who grabs Lily’s left hand, gawking at the simple band slipped over her ring finger. “Get out!” she yells, jumping to her feet. “Really? Really, really?”

Surprised by her friend’s reaction, Lily blinks, then smiles, then nods her head emphatically.

Marlene shrieks, followed by Mary, silenced when they’re pushed to the side as all the others gather around Lily to admire the engagement ring on her finger.

Peter continues to stare at them all with a furrowed brow. “What?” he asks.

“Lily and I are getting married, Wormtail,” James explains to him, minutely.

Understanding creeps upon Peter. “Oh!” A slow smile spreads across his face. “Oh, congratulations! What a happy Christmas this makes.”

James ruffles his wispy blonde hair. “Thanks, mate.”

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Lily asks the group. Her eyes, however, are trained mostly on Sirius and Remus. “We’ve only been dating four months.”

“Too soon?” repeats Sirius. “You and James have been seven years in the making, Evans. I don’t know what about that reads as too bloody soon to you.”

“I guess that answers the question,” she deadpans.

James nudges her in the side with his elbow.

“I have to agree with Padfoot, unfortunately,” says Remus. “This has been a long time coming. The two of you together, now more than ever...it just makes sense.”

The smile Lily spares him is small, but whole and nothing but grateful. “That’s how we feel too.”

“My only concern is your surname,” says Marlene. “You’re going to keep Evans, right?”

“Well, no.”

Sirius hands fly to his scalp, tugging mightily at his shaggy locks of hair. “Oh, but Lily Potter sounds terrible, Evans. Don’t change your name just because you’re marrying this dolt. Please. I beg you.”

“Shut up, Padfoot, or you’re not invited to the wedding.”

“Like hell I won’t be.”

And they continue on that way for the rest of the evening, reveling in the company of their friends, their family, and most importantly, each other.

It’s not until everyone’s gone to bed that Lily and James are alone again, sitting in the light of the Christmas tree in the Gryffindor common room. James tugs a decorative candy cane from one of the tree’s branches, holding it out to Lily beside him. She takes the offering from him, memories of floating candy canes and a different James dancing across her memory. Lily takes his face in her hands, kissing him, her old nemesis, her best friend, the love of her life with all the love she can hold in her heart.

When they part, James smiles against her mouth, whispering what she knows now has always been true. “I love you, Lily.”

She smiles back at him, their past flitting through her brain, their future waiting on her mind’s horizon. “I love you too, James,” she tells him. She loops her candy cane over the shell of his ear, and they laugh, falling against each other. “Happy Christmas.”

#thewritingcrew #jerememeknox #jily #jily fanfiction #Harry Potter #mine #i literally didn't even have a sec to fix this weird af spacing lmaaaoooo kill me

99 notes · View notes

jdrespling · 6 years ago

Text

Headbangers Con Survival Guide

What’s shakin folks? Anthony here again with another killer review coming to you from the FIRST EVER HEADBANGERS CON. Did you say Con? Yes, that is not a misprint. On the evening of November 9th Chris 51 and his crew of metal heads hit the Bossanova Ballroom with one thing on their minds…..METAL. Not only was it successful, but this guy is still feeling the high of being in a room with so many great musicians and people. Never in my existence did I ever think idbe chatting with some of the industry’s leading musicians and some of the greats as well. People like David Ellefson, Dirk Verbeuren from MEGADEATH! Aaron Patrick from All That Remains, Carla & Heidi of the Butcher Babies, Morgan Rose of Sevendust, Corey Glover from Living Color and of course we can not forget our gracious host Chris 51.

You know though for my first time having the pleasure to doing an event like this it went amazingly well. So as the night started to wind down we got a performance from the one and ONLY STRYPER! Man, these guys can still kick a beat and hold their own. Tonight, will always be one of the greatest nights of my life. One of my favorite moments about tonight. I look over in the corner because I was looking around for shots and photo ops, and I noticed Dirk Verbeuren with his head down and drawing on something, so I wanted to be nosy and walked over and started talking to this lovely young woman named Elizabeth Engel from a non-profit organization called RYFO. They help struggling musicians. She had asked Dirk to draw her a T-Shirt design for her organization and he didn’t even hesitate and did it on the spot. That totally blew me away, here he is supposed to be partaking on the festivities but decides to help this organization out. I got fucking goose bumps. Don’t believe me see the pics. Dirk again you are a hell of a drummer and human being, thank you. But I also believe that tonight I was apart of METAL HISTORY! When im wheeling my old ass in a wheelchair going to the 25th annual Headbangers con and its my 25th then I will reference this article and I will rest my case! so tonight I say good day and ill have more tomorrow

Sometimes you can’t help but be a bit giddy. Start to ask yourself who are you going to meet today? What am I going to do? First I’m going to sit in and hear some stories from Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister. Did you know that when Twisted Sister first got signed not only were they signed to a UK label, but people thought they were from Europe? Wow, I had no idea. Also, Eddie has a line of Twisted Hot Sauces, that are amazing, so I bought three. I walked around and went over to the exhibit hall to check out the merch booths. Then I went back for the Butcher Babies Heidi and Carla. I bet you didn’t know that one of Heidi’s influences is Slipknot well specifically Corey Taylor and her favorite song is the New National Fucking Anthem SURFACING!!! One of my personal favorites as well. Then Carla is a grief counselor and she is a big fan of the immortal PANTERA! As the day wrapped up from elbowing with Rock Gods, Chris 51 had some special entertainment planned. Hyro The Hero and Soil. To be honest I think Portland is still ringing from that show. As you go to a Con or an event that spans over a couple days you can’t help but wonder what you missed or what you lucked out of. Between panels and signing’s, it can be overwhelming. So, I suggest you find a map or the list of events and plan your weekend. Sunday was here and well I didn’t want it to end, its like that favorite moment that you want to live over and over again. Today I was going to sit in on the Burton C Bell panel well because I like Fear Factory. Jose Mangin our host took the stage. I learned a lot about Burton and Fear Factory. Did you know that their name was taken from a Demo tape they got in Europe? One of their first gigs was in a back yard and Dino kept getting shocked because they weren’t grounded properly. Then we sang Happy Birthday to the one and only David Ellefson. As the day closes and the con is packing up you can’t help but feel saddened and a bit down. So, I got to get a book signed by David Ellefson, and I got a post card signed by Derek Riggs the creator of Iron Maiden’s Eddie. Plus, I don’t know if you all know this, but I am a huge star wars nut and bought a really cool book. I wanted to also see what some of these great artists had to say about headbangers con.

Carla Harvey (Butcher Babies)

EE: Just out of curiosity would you do another Headbangers Con

Carla: Oh of course its been a blast it’s very impressive for the first year for the first Head Bangers Con. I think these kind of things should be a staple everywhere around the country don’t you?

EE: I totally agree

EE: Now, would you change anything?

Carla: Would I change anything, I think this is a great example of what a Head Bangers con should be. There’s nothing that I would change, really nothing. There are so many great people here, the fans have all been awesome and the vendors as well. Maybe have them all in one room so we don’t have to walk around as much.

EE: Was it overwhelming to be in the room with so many of the greats like Burton C Bell, David Ellefson?

Carla: WE have been lucky enough to be in the business for over a decade now and a lot of these people we idolized in our youth have become friends over the years, this is more like a family reunion than anything.

EE: Now I have one important question for you sir, would you attend another Head Bangers Con? (Ron Keel)

RK: I would do it in a heartbeat this has been a fantastic event I’m really glad to be apart of it, and um we have made some new friends seen some old friends and just keep this thing going if Chris Fitty One wants me back for Con number 2 ill be there!

EE: Are you having a good time?

RK: I am absolutely having a blast loving the Rock Star treatment. And a great event for the fans and artists as well!

Nathan Hunt (Shamans Harvest)

EE: how are you doing this morning?

NH: Well I need a lot of coffee especially after last night….

EE: I bet its been a wild weekend.

EE: So the major question is would you do another Head Bangers Con?

NH: Fuck yeah!

EE: Tell me a little bit about your experience this weekend?

NH: Anytime your around like-minded people you know that passion for music it’s always going to be a good weekend.

EE: does it feel like a family reunion?

NH: yes its definitely got that family reunion vibe we all got fucked up Friday, and I chilled yesterday and ordered pizza.

EE: Are you having a good time?

NH: Most definitely I am, learning a lot of shit, with Jose on the stage grinding away.

Davey Grahs (POP EVIL)

EE: The million dollar question is, would you be apart of another Head Bangers Con?

DG: OH Hell yeah, hell yeah this has been great!

EE: What is your thoughts on the concept of having a con for metal heads like us?

DG: I love it I don’t know why we haven’t had anything like this before or sooner

EE: What’s next for Pop Evil

DG: well we have a Canadian tour kicking off next week, then a US run and end it in Europe.

Dirk Verbeuren (MEGADEATH)

EE: Curious, would you be apart of another Head Bangers Con?

DV: absolutely I would this has been a total blast, and ah I think it will only get better since this is the first edition after all.

EE: Where do you think the next location will be?

DV: I am rooting for Los Angeles because it is closer to my house and I like sleeping in my own bed. Lol no I think L.A would be a be a better place because there are a lot of conventions there and its very busy there is a lot of people in the metal scene that would definitely dig things like this so.

Jose Mangin (Sirius Xm Radio)

EE: So Would you be involved with another Head Bangers Con?

JM: Oh My God of course that is a no brainer, I would never miss something that’s as cool as a gathering of us metal fans and to able to help be a leader for it, a voice for it, it’s an honor to be here. If I saw one dude wearing a metal shirt that’s all I need, but I see a ton of people with big hearts for metal ill never miss this again.

EE: You have done panels for the last two days, right at this moment what is your favorite so far?

JM: I mean dude, Megadeath is one of my all time favorite bands and just always talking to someone of his stature (David Ellefson) it freaks me out because I have been such a long time fan.

EE: Do you still get the giggles when you do interviews?

JM: Always , Always I never take this job, this position this life I have for granted it’s a huge responsibility. But First and foremost I am a FAN.

EE: One last question What would you tell Chris 51 right now?

JM: Dude, I would say thank you for getting all of us head bangers together. Thank you and lets do it again!

Corey Glover (Living Color)

EE: Would you do another Con like this?

CG: Absolutely in a heartbeat I would do it tomorrow, yeah this is fun this is great.

EE: Do you think this is going to open bigger doors and open people’s eyes?

CG: I do I think that as a band, to connect to your audience and the people who appreciate what you do is hard to do at a show, if your really working you only have about a half an hour to meet and greet your fans but its only hi and that’s it. This I get you talk to people all day and that we don’t get to do on a daily basis. Plus the fans can ask specific questions that you don’t get the opportunity to ask at a meet and greet. It like what kind of pick are you using why did you do this instead of that. That is when I feel more connected to my fans.

Burton C Bell (Fear Factory)

EE: Would you do another metal Con and Why

BB: Yes and because its FUCKING FUN AS HELL!

EE: is there anything that really stood out for you this weekend?

BB: Umm just the Family vibe

EE: I have been hearing that a lot from people

BB: and that’s what this is it’s a celebration of the genre intrinsically even if you are a musician or not.

Then I got to see the new Fear Factory album cover…. He hehe…..

This last weekend was not only the time of my life but I have to say very eye-opening. From all the Vendors like The Star Wars Store, Rogue Toys, Period Panties, Terasyne Amps, ROCKSTAR clothing, Morbid Empire, Metal Yoga, Paradise Harley Davidson, Rose City Vapors, and all the tattoo artists. I can’t forget to mention Toxic Zombie, Cryptamnesia, M.I.R.P, YesterdazeNews Bob Williams Photography you my friend my hats off. You all made me feel very welcome into the fold and I can not wait to shoot side by side and work with you all again. Plus Jose Mangin from Sirius Xm Radio. Brother never lose that passion, I love listening to you on the radio and enjoyed watching you on stage during the panels.

This weekend couldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the great works by Chris 51 and Morgan Rose. You two started a domino effect that will hopefully last for generations. You gave the metal fans a place where we can be as one and feel like we are family.

Chris and Morgan, I personally can not thank you enough for showing this world what metal is and is always going to be. I am anxiously waiting for the news of the next one.

So guys that’s all I am going to say, if you missed out on all the wonderful panels, and your favorite artists. I am truly sorry you missed a HEAD BANGING WEEKEND!!

Thanks again for reading and enjoying what I had to say

Remember Keep it real and keep it METAL!

I’ll catch you on the flipside!

HeadBangers Con Portland 2018 Review Headbangers Con Survival Guide What’s shakin folks? Anthony here again with another killer review coming to you from the FIRST EVER HEADBANGERS CON.

0 notes