themischiefshallberemembered:

Lily Evans yelling at James Potter for an unidentified reason. Circa Summer of 1978.

“You can’t do this!” It’s shrill, she’ll admit, but she refuses to wince. Even if James is feet in front of her, walking away. He says nothing, doesn’t even acknowledge that she has shouted.

“You can’t just snog me and then tell me Moody’s sending you off a week long mission!”

He’s whirled toward her now, and even from this distance she can see the anger prominent in every movement of his body. “I can’t just tell him no, it’s important or he wouldn’t ask.” He shouts it, but only because he’s so far away — she knows that if he was closer, he wouldn’t have shouted it. He would be trying to control the temper. And it’s infuriating that he has that ability.

“You led me out here to soften me up! ‘Oh, Lily, a nice walk, a little snogging — oh by the way, I have to go put my life in bloody danger, so long!’” He takes a step toward her, but stops himself, and she fumes.

“I’m not talking to you about this right now. I’m going on. Cool off.”

“Cool off? Why don’t you heat up? What, it doesn’t matter to you? It’s just a job? Who cares if I’m leaving my wife for a week to possibly die, what does it matter, she can handle it, she can handle anything —” None of them are fair cards to play, and none of them are particularly true, but she needs to see him angry, needs to satisfy the ugly little ball of hate inside of her that demands she make him hurt even a little but as much as she is worrying. He hasn’t even left yet but it feels like the worry will swallow her alive. So she takes it out on him because he can handle it, because he’s the one who can handle anything.

And because she knows that once they both cool down, he’ll know why she needed to shout at him and hurt him.

“We both know what this is about, Lily. I have to go.” He just sounds tired now — defeated, and it takes some of the heat out of her anger. “I can help. I know that I can, and Moody knows it or he wouldn’t send me. Remus is going too, he’ll keep me out of her trouble — and Sirius will stay here. And Peter, too. And you know they’ll both be in the house constantly.” He strides toward her, taking her arm. “I can’t promise I’ll be okay but you can’t promise you’ll be okay while I’m gone, either. And that eats at me.” He runs a hand over his face and she does the same, noting the tears that have started but ignoring them. He does too.

“We can’t stop the war, Lily. And we sure as hell can’t stop the worry. But we can stop taking it out on each other.”

She studies him. “I’ll remind you that, next time I’m the one going off for a week and leaving you here.” But she pulls her arm out of his grip to hug him, and they both accept the fact that they’re both speaking the truth. They’re try to talk to it out, but it isn’t how they work. She needs to shout, and he needs to shout, and they’ll shout at each other because they’re available and because they’ll understand.

But maybe they’ll talk it out more, too.

themischiefshallberemembered:

Lily Evans. Circa summer of 1975.

It’s a testament to how bloody tired she is that she doesn’t even flinch when she hears the crashes and the loud exclamation of “bloody buggering hell, fuck me.”

All she does is reach to the hat that someone had left at some point in the past and place is over her face. The sun had been in her eyes. Why hadn’t she shut the shades? Maybe she should call out to James, get him to shut them — but that would require speech and she doesn’t think she’s capable of that.

She hears the footsteps and prays that they will pass the door, but they don’t. She considers groaning, but decides against for the same reason she hadn’t called out to him: she was just too tired.

“I can’t believe they let you off first.”

She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t even move. It doesn’t even worry him.

“Where the hell did you get a zebra shirt? Isn’t that Alice’s? And that hat is definitely Dorcas’.” She says nothing, but she can hear the soft sound of fabric whispering against skin. Apparently he wasn’t as dead on his feet as she had been. “I hate sentry duty. Why did we think it was fun? It’s bloody torturous. I told Sirius that if he comes around before tomorrow I’ll actually kill him.” Why isn’t he just sleeping?

“James Potter, if you don’t shut the bloody fuck up and let me sleep I swear I’ll kill you when I wake up.” There’s silence, and she’s amazed she could say anything at all. “I would argue that if you fall asleep I had to stop talking so that statement negates itself but I’m too tired. I think Moody let me off duty because I fell asleep. On my feet. Literally, on my sleep. Who does that?” With that, he’s collapsed on the bed next to her, groaning.

She hasn’t moved.

“I would take that hat off and kiss you goodnight but I can’t move anymore.”

Within minutes, they’re both snoring.

the-marauders-era-bvb:

Lily Evans. Taken by James Potter. Circa 1977

It’s warm out, unseasonably so — but she had been planning on ignoring it. There was so much to do that day, homework to do and tutoring sessions to lead and prefect schedules to schedule. Pretend that it was easy and simple and not making her go insane. Talk to people, so they knew she was still alive. And then burrow in the library, until Pince finally kicked her out with a hint of sympathy in her eyes.

But James had interfered. It hadn’t been hard for him, really, to convince her to take a break. That alone represented how exhausted she was: she really did a need a break, if she couldn’t argue well with James.

“We’ll just go outside, just for a little bit.”

“I can’t, I have things to do —”

“They can wait for an hour, Lily, really. C’mon.”

“I’m not dressed for this,” she begins again,

“I’ll cast a warming spell on your sweater… dress thing. What is that? No, nevermind, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

And with that he had hauled her up from the chair she had been sitting in, leading her outside while easily deflecting her attempts to escape his pull. The arguments are weak enough that he barely has to deflect them. He keeps his word, casting the warming spell even as he hauls her out the doors.

She has to blink a few times while her eyes adjust from the bleakness of the castle, and she sighs. Everything is so vibrant and bright and alive, a fact that she always manages to forget. It’s also something James loves to remind her.

He doesn’t have to pull her anymore, and they are instead walking hand in hand toward the lake. There are students everywhere, and people stop and ask them questions and just want to chat. James evades them, with a skill Lily can admire, but he knows that she won’t stay outside forever and doesn’t want to waste their time. So he plants her in the grass by the lake, amongst the scattering of trees, and sits a few feet away from her.

She studies him, and then looks out over the lake. And after a moment, she just falls backward onto the grass, kicking off her shoes and stretching.

“Lil?”

“Thank you.”

She doesn’t have to explain further for him to understand. It’s acknowledgment for having the foresight to know that she would need this break, and that she would appreciate it. It’s a thank you for knowing her well enough to know that she would regret not having this moment.

So a small smile curves his lips before he responds, “you’re welcome.”

They sit there, talking, as Lily remains stretched out on her back on the grass. At one point she curves her legs toward him, comfortably resting, and when the sun shines in her eyes she lazily slips a hand up to cover them.

“I have to get back to the castle,” she murmurs, sleepily enough that James knows that she’s lost the battle with herself. She would stay outside until he brought her back, and because he knows she won’t let herself relax like this until her workload is over — and Merlin knows when that will be — he lets his gaze slip to the students spread out across the grounds. And when he looks at Lily, he’s grinning.

“Everyone else is enjoying the nice weather. Everything can wait until tomorrow.”

ghost-of-bambi:

I know I said I’d update all of my multi-chapters but then I got this idea and it sat in my brain and said, “write me, Sarah, write me,” and so I had to and so here’s a little piece of it and don’t hate it and don’t hate me, please!

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viria:

happy birthday, James Potter<33

ageofmarauders-scrapbook:

Lily Evans after waking up with James Potter

Taken by James Potter

Circa 1976

(by Noukka Signe)

It’s sixth year and she’s just woken up, and she’s just a bit terrified.

“Mornin’, Evans.” There’s that wicked grin on his face and all of a sudden her head is pounding and she finds herself lacking the memories of how exactly she came to be sprawled out on the floor of the boy’s dormitory, in only a tee shirt and shorts, when she had definitely been wearing different clothes to bed.

And then it starts to come back and she blushes, and he laughs.

“There it is.”

“What?” She growls, and he snickers.

“Remembrance. MacDonald left a bit ago. I seem to recall Sirius carrying her. But I waited for you.” Though he doesn’t say it unkindly, it certainly isn’t kind, and she can hear the laughter in his tone.

For some reason she doubts it’s kind laughter.

She covers her eyes with a hand, and he’s laughing again. “Don’t think that’s going to block out the shame, Evans.”

“Would you just bloody fucking shut up, Potter?” Instead of being insulted, he’s laughing wildly and she’s blushing harder and damn it, she was never playing truth or dare again.

“Meadowes was in a bit ago, explained your little game.” She’s unaware that he’s pulled out a camera and has taken a picture, and would be unaware of it for a week and a half, until he would take it upon himself to show it to her.

The shouting match was one of the worst.

“Why are you still talking?”

“To torture you. Didn’t know you could be so wild.”

“Christ, it’s not like I was streaking.”

“Close enough. Never seen you in less clothes, y’know.”

“I had a shirt on!”

“Pants?”

“… sort of.”

“Precisely.” He’s snickering as he leans closer, and she’s aware of what he’s trying to do. Her hand smacks him in the face, covering his mouth and nose and part of his left eye, giving a sense of comedy to the situation at hand… and she grins, at the face she’s currently squishing, and gives him an extra push.

“If you ever mention this, I’ll kill you.”

“I’d worry about Sirius.”

“… Shit.”

ageofmarauders-scrapbook:

Sirius Black, Lily Evans & James Potter || Circa 1978

They’re walking on the road, away from her parent’s house and toward a place where they could safely Apparate from. Lily’s leading them on, basically urging them on to see how far they’d be willing to walk.

So far she estimates in about a mile, and Sirius is starting to crack.

“C’mon, Evans, this is a bit ridiculous. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

She laughs, linking her arms through both of theirs. “Nah, just a bit further. Is the mighty Black feeling winded?”

He’s sneering at her, pulling his arm out from between hers, and cuffs James on the ear. “Mate, this is your fault. She’s your insanity.” Now he’s laughing, barely glancing at Sirius as they continue on walking.

“You didn’t have to visit her parents with us, Pads.”

“‘Course he did, James. Who else was he going to mooch off of?” Lily adds, smiling.

“He’s a dog through and through.”

Sirius is scowling now, demanding in a loud voice that they turn around and walk back. He’d have her dad drive them to where they had to go in that car thing he’d seen, because it had to be better than walking all this distance, but Lily is laughing and shaking her head.

“C’mon, Evans, it’s not that far back —”

“Merlin, Sirius, it’s not that much longer this way either —”

“I don’t want to walk further. This is stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

“Still in first grade, mate?”

And the teasing has turned into a game of tug-of-war, with her being the rope, the two boys pulling on her to get her to choose where to go. Breathless with laughter, it takes her a minute and a lot of pain before she can get out, “we can Apparate from here.”

Sirius immediately stops, turning to her with a glower.

“What?” She’s laughing and can’t seem to stop, and suddenly James is laughing too as Lily rubs her sore arms.

“I need new friends.” Sirius says it loudly, and James snorts. “Go mooch of Remus and Peter.”

“I will. I’ll just leave you two alone. You both need better senses of humor.”

They’re both laughing as Sirius disappears, and James wraps his arm around her waist.

“How long d’you think it’ll be before they’re all at the house, asking to be fed?”

”’Sirius ate all of our food.’” Lily mimicked, and it was amidst more laughter that they too Apparated. It was always good when they could take time out to forget that they were at war.

memories-from-the-marauders-era:

Lily Evans and James Potter, taken by Dorcas Meadowes, 1977

James and Sirius have challenged each other to see who could go the longest without shaving.

It’s been a month and a half now, and they’re long past the point of scruff. They’ve gone from scruff to an annoyance to, as they are frequently told, homeless.

But the challenge goes on and the facial hair stays.

Taking matters into her own hands, Lily has challenged James. She will not kiss him until he shaves. James now suddenly finds himself with two challenges, and winning one would mean losing the other. He can shave and kiss his girlfriend and lose the challenge, or keep the facial hair and not get to kiss his girlfriend without knowing when the hell he’d able to shave.

Lily holds out for two weeks when, as they’re sitting in a classroom doing schoolwork, with Lily in his lap (just because she wouldn’t kiss him didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to seduce him to win), James declares in a very sad voice that he gives up.

“What? It’s not that hard, James, I mean, I know Potions isn’t your strong suit but —”

“No! Not that, not the class.”

“Well, what are— oh.”

“I’ll shave. I’ll throw the challenge. For you, Lil.”

“For my lips.”

“That’s still you.”

She laughs, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

“I thought I had to shave first?”

“That was your prize for saying you’d shave.”

“Maybe I should do this more often,” he says with a grin, and Lily shakes her head before rising from his lap.

“I’ll never kiss you again if you do. Go get that off your face.”

“Yes ma’am.” He says it with a grin before he pulls her in for another kiss and then rubs the beard over her cheek and neck, and she shoves him away even as she laughs, and he goes to return his appearance to it’s usual beardless appearance.

It was, he decided, a good trade. Losing the challenge with Sirius, but winning the girl. He’d just have to challenge Sirius something else.

memories-from-the-marauders-era:

James Potter and Lily Evans, taken by Dorcas Meadowes, 1977

They’re together, have been together, and everyone knows it. The Heads can be seen holding hands and wandering off together and cheeks are kissed and hugs are given.

The one thing no one can say they’ve seen, however, is a kiss on the lips.

Once this is realized, Lily and James are constantly hounded. Even to the point that during a Transfiguration lesson, the class ended up chanting “kiss, kiss!” to them, McGonagall standing at the front of the room looking disapproving — but not saying a word to stop the chants.

It’s a Wednesday, and it’s their free period; instead of staying in the castle to study, they take off, a group of them. James and Lily, Marlene and Dorcas, Remus and Sirius. The rest are in class, but what does it matter between friends?

They’re all standing in a circle a few feet from the Forbidden Forest, laughing together. James is standing across from Dorcas, and Lily stops leaning on Remus to stand with him. His arm automatically comes around her, and she turns into him and they’re smiling at each other before Dorcas, taking the camera Sirius was toying with, demands in a loud voice that they kiss.

With a small smile, James takes off his hat, holds it over their faces, and kisses his girl. Dorcas takes the picture, and right afterwards Mary plucks the hat out of his hand, and then they’re all laughing together as James tries to get his hat back — “That’s Peter’s, y’know!” — and they throw it over his head. Lily stands back, grinning, before she grabs the hat before it can reach Remus’ waiting hands. She puts the hat back on James, kisses his mouth, and then winks at Dorcas while the rest whistle.

memories-from-the-marauders-era:

James Potter and Lily Evans, taken by Mary Macdonald, 1977

The common room around them is full and loud, Friday night a relief after the week they’d all had. So many deaths had been reported and so many students and teachers shrugged everything off. But they dominated the common room, gathered around the fire in their group. They didn’t shrug anything about the events outside the castle off. But today, for tonight, it wasn’t their topic of conversation. Instead it was simply the banter of a group of friends who were comfortable with each other.

Marlene and Mary sat on the floor directly in front of the fire, facing each other and occasionally making faces at each other. Dorcas sat, leaning against the legs of Sirius, who lounged in one of the more comfortable chairs in the room (he’d told a first year that he had “chairmanship” due to being a seventh year, and then had dragged it over to the fire). Remus and Peter sat together in a chair, squeezed into the single chair as they debated over Transfiguration homework. And on the single couch sat Lily and James, not sitting particularly close but between them were their hands. They weren’t talking to each other, weren’t even looking at each other, instead holding conversations with the rest of the group, but the hands between them were teasing and touching and caressing, holding their own silent conversation.

It’s been happening for a good ten minutes before Mary finally drags out a camera and takes a picture of their hands, and it isn’t for months before Mary actually shows them the picture, and both look slightly embarrassed; upon being asked, Lily says that she hadn’t even realized they had been doing it, but James just smiles and runs his hand through his hair, saying that Lily’s response meant it holding his hand had become something natural and unremarkable.

But it would always be remarkable to him.

lilylovesjames:

doe—meadowes:

Lily & James | Taken by Doe

Winter ‘80

anxious-pineapples:

more James/Lily winter

little-bit-nerdy:

Everybody else will be trick or treating, watching horror movies, eating sweets etc.

Jily shippers will be like

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, and I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

this hits my characterization of lily head on, including the insecurities. xD