Kelsey ( @kay-elle-cee ) and I are thrilled to host Jily Week for the third year in a row. After being treated to 80+ creations each of the past two years, we can’t wait to see what all of you talented people will come up with this year. GET EXCITED for the week of August 17th to 23rd!!
To participate, post a creative work corresponding to the daily prompt – fanfiction, fanart, playlists, metas, moodboards, etc. – anything goes! You can participate in as few or as many days as possible, but we challenge everyone to try and create something for every prompt, even if it's only a hundred-word drabble or a 5-minute sketch! Don't stress about meeting the exact prompt or the deadline - the most important thing is to have fun with it!
Remember to tag your works with #jily week 2026, mention @sunshinemarauder and @kay-elle-cee, and add any fic you write to the Jily Week 2026 AO3 Collection.
🌟 PROMPTS:
☀️ Day 1 – 17th of August – Mistaken Identity
Or: when the road to love is obscured by mistaken identities. Secret superhero identities, masquerades, love squares, or wrong numbers can complicate things… but don’t worry, they’ll get there eventually.
☀️ Day 2 – 18th of August – Star Power
Romance is hard as it is, but it can get even more complicated when you’re in the limelight. Put one or both of our favorites in the public eye, and you get a recipe for delicious fanfiction. Make ’em celebs, actors, royals, athletes – anything goes!
☀️ Day 3 – 19th of August – Break Up / Make Up
You’ve heard of Angst vs Fluff – now get ready for Break Up / Make Up. Choose your fighter: break hearts or put them back together?
☀️ Day 4 – 20th of August – Mythos
Whether you choose to modernize your favorite myth or place James and Lily on Mt. Olympus, this is the perfect time to pull out all the obscure folkloric trivia we know you’ve been waiting to put in a story. (Percy Jackson crossovers WELCOMED.)
☀️ Day 5 – 21st of August – Damned to Detention
We all know the Marauders spent much of their Hogwarts years in and out of detention. Though Lily may have been a Prefect, she wasn’t so removed from their antics. Who’s the unlucky one this time?
☀️ Day 6 – 22nd of August – And There Was Only One Bed
You know it — a trope as old as time and a forever favorite.
☀️ Day 7 – 23rd of August – Write a Fic Rec
There’s a wealth of fantastic Jily works out and about. Take a moment to shine the spotlight upon a current fav/recent read/comfort fanfiction. Write the recommendation the author deserves and introduce it to a new audience!
———
Feel free to message either of us or drop an ask if you have questions! 🌟
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“Mm-mm.” Lily is shaking her head vigorously, leaning forward in her chair, and begging her mouth to chew this damned bite of a bacon sandwich just a bit quicker. She raps her knuckles against the Press Room’s solid oak table top to get the attention back on and her quick. “No,” She finally says after swallowing. “If we give the Prophet the embargo at eight fifty five, the Register will know by nine.”
“They won’t know.” Thomas speaks from further down the table.
Day 4 of 12 Days of Jily Christmas in July
Hogwarts 7th Year - Lily borrows James’s Christmas jumper because she’s cold. They spend the rest of the day trying to be normal about it.
AO3
~3300
Lily could not believe she had forgotten her jumper in her dormitory this morning. She had realised it during breakfast, but had been too lazy and eager to eat her weight in smoked salmon – a special treat since it was the last day of term before Christmas holidays – to go back and get it. She had figured she’d be fine since they had Potions first thing that morning and it was always steaming hot in Professor Slughorn’s dungeon classroom. But she hadn’t taken into consideration that she had Care of Magical Creatures next and wouldn’t have time to run up to the dormitory and back down to the grounds before or after, since she had Herbology straight after. All the Warming Charms in the world weren’t enough to save her from two hours freezing on the grounds and in the greenhouses in nothing but her shirt and her thin black Hogwarts school robe.
By the time she joined James in the library for their shared free period, her teeth were chattering. She was almost afraid her lips were turning blue as she pressed them to James’s cheek in greeting. He jumped and instinctively jerked his head back as he turned to stare at her, eyes wide behind his glasses.
“Merlin, woman! You’re like an icicle!” he whisper-shouted. He had been booted from the library so many times over the years that he tended to instinctively keep his voice down when he really didn’t want Madam Pince to pay too much attention to him.
“I forgot my jumper in my dormitory,” she pouted as she began to stack her books on the table in front of her. Technically free period seemed like the best time to go and retrieve it since she had a whole hour before lunch, which meant she had two whole hours before they needed to be in their Alchemy lesson. But why would she go all the way back up to Gryffindor Tower when James had his jolly Christmas jumper – definitely a dress code violation, not that anyone cared on the last day of term – slung over the back of his chair here in the library?
It was her bad luck, really, that her coldest lessons were the two her very toasty warm boyfriend had dropped the moment he was able.
She reached for his jumper. He leaned forward wordlessly so she could tug it free and watched as she pulled it over her head. Her hair was probably a mess when she popped it through the collar, but it was nothing compared to the perpetual disaster that was his hair, so she didn’t feel particularly self-conscious about him staring as she sighed, delighted that he’d been leaning against it and it was still warm with his body heat.
He made a strangled sound when she ducked her chin beneath the collar and breathed in the scent of him.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said too quickly.
“It smells like you,” she informed him.
“Okay,” he said.
“I like it,” she continued.
“Thanks,” he said hoarsely.
“Are you alright?” she asked, frowning at him and reaching for his hand. “You’re being weird.”
“No! I mean, yeah,” he said loudly, then flinched and ducked his head when Madam Pince looked swiftly in their direction. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a hushed whisper. “I’m alright.”
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before turning to open her Advanced Charms textbook. “If you’re sure.”
He only hummed to reassure her as he turned back to his notes. From the looks of it, he’d been working on his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay when she’d joined him. After a few minutes she realized she had barely heard the scratch of his quill on his parchment. She glanced over. He had added maybe three words. She looked at his face.
He was staring at her with an odd, unfocused expression. He startled when he realised she was frowning at him, and turned back to his essay. He added two more words before he chanced another glance at her. She was still watching him with suspicious, narrowed eyes.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded in a whisper.
He smiled guiltily. “You look nice. That’s all.”
Her frown deepened. She looked down at herself. “I’m just wearing your jumper.”
His smile turned a little goofy. “Yeah, I know.”
“Are you going insane?” she asked. “Genuinely.”
“Maybe a little,” he said with a shrug. “But probably not. I think finding you impossibly attractive right now is the most sane thing I’ve ever done.”
She rolled her eyes. Despite herself, she felt her cheeks heat. James’s smile softened. She shoved him playfully. “Write your essay. It’s due in three hours.”
“I can think of more important things than this essay right now,” James said, leaning close to her. “Much, much more important. And much, much more fun.”
“More important than Defence Against the Dark Arts?” Lily retorted.
He pretended to consider her point, frowning contemplatively. “Admittedly this is a very important class. But yes, I can think of more important things.”
“Essay,” she said, tapping it with one slender fingertip.
When she pulled her hand back, he caught it. “One kiss.”
“Do you want to get kicked out of the library again?” Lily demanded. But she was smiling, utterly incapable of hiding the silly girlish joy he brought out in her. “I recall Madam Pince threatening a lifelong ban last year.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said gravely.
“How about a compromise,” she suggested. She got up and gathered her books. He watched her, dismayed for a brief moment, then intrigued when she simply moved to his left side instead of his right. She got settled, then moved her chair closer to his and looked at him. “No kiss, but you may put your arm around me and continue to write your essay.”
His brown eyes went impossibly soft and he smiled and lifted his arm for her to snuggle under. He picked up his quill in his right hand and hovered it over the parchment. She leaned into his side and resumed reading her textbook to the sound of his quill steadily scratching the parchment.
-
“You look ridiculous,” Lily said bluntly across the Gryffindor table.
They’d gotten to lunch late because she’d decided, once they’d left the library, that James did deserve his kiss after all. And then one kiss turned into two and two into three and before she knew it they were full-on snogging in a secret passageway.
So, the table had been nearly full when they’d arrived, and their friends had only been able to save two seats across from each other instead of next to each other. James had pouted about it, but quietly sat between Sirius and Peter across from her and Remus without making too much of a fuss. It seemed, after he’d eaten two roast beef sandwiches, that he had decided to accept his lot and spend the rest of the lunch hour staring at her across the table like a lovesick fool.
“I look perfectly normal,” James said, making no effort to actually look perfectly normal.
“I am your girlfriend,” she reminded him.
He sighed dreamily. “Yeah.”
“We just spent fifteen minutes snogging,” she pointed out.
A flash of pride. “Yeah, we did.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’ve literally been dating since the first week of school.”
“I know,” he grinned goofily.
“Thanks to Sirius, the entire school has known from day one,” she said.
“Yeah.” Another dazed sigh as he stared at her. “But Lily. You’re wearing my jumper. For everyone to see.”
She rolled her eyes. “Absolutely ridiculous.”
“I think his shock is perfectly reasonable,” Sirius butted in from beside James as if he were part of the conversation. “You’re practically wearing a sign that says property of James Potter.”
Lily bristled immediately, but James beat her to the retaliation. With quick Quidditch-honed reflexes he smacked Sirius none-too-gently in the stomach without taking his eyes off Lily.
“She’s not my fucking property, you prick,” he said. “She’s my girlfriend.”
Sirius groaned. “I was kidding, you idiot. You didn’t have to hit me.”
“Be glad he did,” Lily said darkly. “I was going to hex you.”
Sirius frowned, then noticed her wand was in her hand on top of the table. “So sensitive, the both of you.”
Lily stood and walked around the table. Sirius eyed her warily over his shoulder as she came to stand behind him and James.
James, on the other hand, smiled up at her. “Yes?”
“Let’s go,” she said, holding out her hand to him.
He stood and took it without hesitation and without question even though they still had twenty minutes before Alchemy.
Peter asked the question for him, anyway. “Where are you going?”
“I’ve realised I’ve made a serious lapse in judgment,” she announced gravely. James looked confused. “I wasn’t done snogging you after all.”
Peter laughed. Remus raised his eyebrows. She didn’t bother checking Sirius’s reaction. James’s boyish grin was too alluring. Together, they turned and all but ran out of the hall.
-
She kept catching him staring at her during Alchemy. She would frown at him across the classroom and give him a pointed look that said focus on your notes.
Every time she caught him, though, he looked pleased instead of embarrassed.
It took her entirely too long to realise why.
Because every time she caught him staring, it was because she had gotten distracted from her notes and looked over at him too.
-
They turned in their Defence Against the Dark Arts essays at the start of the lesson – she had finished hers after dinner the night before while he’d been out flying with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Once their essays were handed in, Professor Wycliffe informed them that he had no intention of trying to teach a new topic the day before the Christmas holidays started and gave them what was essentially another free period provided they remained quiet and in his classroom.
James was unusually quiet as they sat together in the back of the room, fingers intertwined. She had expected him to start flirting again, or bartering for kisses she would not give him during class, even if they weren’t technically having a lesson. But no. He sat quietly beside her playing with her fingers.
Even Remus was goofing off with Sirius in the row ahead of them. She frowned at James and pushed his hair out of his eyes with her free hand.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him in a hushed voice when he looked at her.
He shook his head and then sighed. “We leave tomorrow.”
“Yeah, it’s Christmas holidays,” Lily said. The whole school had been talking about it since only the beginning of the year.
He hummed. “Yeah, but…” he paused. It seemed to be difficult for him to verbalise whatever was bothering him. “You’re going to Cokeworth. I’m going to Gloucestershire.”
She waited. She understood now.
“We won’t see each other for three weeks,” he finally finished, looking very overwhelmingly depressed about it.
“James,” she said softly. He met her eyes. “If only there were some magical method of travel that was instantaneous and could transport you from Gloucestershire to Cokeworth, and me from Cokeworth to Gloucestershire in the blink of an eye.”
His eyes lit up. “Oh.”
“Who’s the Pure-blood between the two of us, again?” she teased.
“Well, obviously we could Apparate to each other,” he said. “I just…didn’t know if you wanted to.”
“James,” she said again. “Do you think you’re alone in this relationship?”
He shook his head fiercely, frowning, looking a bit confused.
“Good, because you’re not. I’m as embarrassingly mad about you as you are about me, I’ll have you know,” she said in a level tone. “I just manage it better.”
His eyes went impossibly tender. “Oh. Well, okay then.”
A wad of parchment zoomed into the side of his head. He turned to Sirius with a scowl and flicked his wand at him. Sirius choked a little as his tie tightened to the point of discomfort before suddenly it stopped and loosened again.
“Prat,” Sirius gasped.
“Idiot,” James retorted.
Lily shook her head and smiled.
-
The entire class practically bolted out of Transfiguration when Professor McGonagall released them. It was their last lesson of the day, and of the whole term. All of them were eager for freedom, as much freedom as they could come by still confined to the castle for the next fifteen hours.
James pulled Lily into an empty classroom just down the corridor from McGonagall’s and kissed her. She didn’t protest, even though they’d snogged through half of lunch earlier. She couldn’t get enough of him either, especially not when they were about to be separated for three weeks.
Because James was as right as she was. Sure, they could meet up conceivably whenever and wherever they wanted since they both had their Apparition licenses. But they wouldn’t have empty classrooms and secret passages or the abandoned common room late at night after everyone else had gone to bed.
They wouldn’t even have the grounds to walk or the Black Lake to watch the sun set over. They wouldn’t have the Quidditch Pitch so he could show off for her while she waited and watched in the stands. As ridiculous as he had been during Defence, she was suddenly just as melancholy about it.
“What if we don’t get on the train?” James whispered against her neck.
She laughed and stroked a hand through his hair. “My parents would have a heart attack if I didn’t turn up at King’s Cross.”
He pulled his head back to smile adoringly down at her at the sound of her laugh. “Okay, what if I just come home with you?”
She laughed louder. “They would definitely have a heart attack if you just popped up and announced your intention to live in their house for three weeks.”
“Fine.” He sighed loudly and dramatically. “I’ll be okay with meeting up.”
“Good.”
“Every day.”
“James.”
“Every second day?”
His every day suggestion had been a joke. The second, she could tell by his hopeful expression, was more sincere. She smiled.
“We’ll see.” She drew him close again, pulled his head down towards her as she leaned up to kiss him softly. “We can definitely write every day.”
“I’ll write you the most majestic love letters you’ve ever received,” he promised.
“Easy, since I’ve never received one,” she said.
“What?” He looked astonished.
“What, what?” She frowned suspiciously at him. “Have you written a bunch of love letters?”
He thought for a moment. “Not a single one. Guess we’ll learn together how I manage.”
She smiled again. “I’ll write you love letters back.”
“You’ll have to,” he said seriously. “I’m going to send Monty every day with strict instructions not to return without a reply.”
She tsked. “My poor baby.”
“He’s my owl,” James protested.
“My baby,” she repeated.
He let it go. “I suppose I’ll have to meet your parents.”
He said it casually, but there was a hint of uncertainty there.
“They’ll definitely wonder who the lunatic grinning like a nutter at their daughter is,” Lily said, equally casual about it even though the thought of James Potter and her parents occupying the same space terrified her as much as it thrilled her.
“Definitely,” he agreed. “I guess you’ll probably need to meet my parents too, then.”
She pretended to take her time considering. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“They – er – actually already know who you are,” James admitted.
“My parents know about you, too,” Lily reassured him. She was pretty sure she hadn’t written them a letter that didn’t mention him in some capacity since they’d started dating. They even wrote back greetings for her to pass along to him, so he knew she’d told them about him.
“I know,” he confirmed. “But, I mean…my parents really know who you are. They’ve seen you at the train station a lot and they’ve taken note of how I…well, you know I like to look at you.”
She gaped at him. “You’ve been staring at me every time we’ve been at King’s Cross to the point that your parents recognise me?”
He grimaced. “Yeah.”
She laughed. “You’re pathetic.”
“I am,” he agreed immediately. “I really am.”
She kissed him again. He returned it eagerly. His hands went to the hem of his stolen jumper on her body. For a wild moment, she thought he was going to pull it off of her.
He didn’t.
He pulled his mouth from hers. “Can I just say…I really, really like you in my clothes.”
The door opened, and they both froze as the worst possible person walked in and caught them.
“Mr. Potter. Miss Evans,” Professor McGonagall said through tight lips.
“Professor, I –” James started. Professor McGonagall silenced him with a severe glare.
“Are you or are you not supposed to be leading the term’s final Prefect meeting right now as the school’s appointed Head Students?” she demanded.
Horror rushed through Lily as she backed away from James. They had completely forgotten the Prefect meeting.
“Professor, we –” she began, but was silenced by yet another glare.
“I know what you were doing. Five points from Gryffindor.”
Lily was surprised it wasn’t more. She half expected their Head of House to give them detention for the rest of the school year once they returned after Christmas, but further punishment didn’t come. She looked at James. He looked equally surprised.
McGonagall adjusted her glasses, looking between them with the same expression she used whenever a student had done something incredibly foolish and yet somehow not entirely surprising.
“I will remind you both that being Head Students is a position of responsibility, not merely an excuse to wander the castle together.”
James opened his mouth again.
“Do not speak,” Professor McGonagall warned.
He immediately shut it.
“You have a meeting to lead,” she continued. “A meeting which began several minutes ago if I am not mistaken.”
“Yes, Professor,” Lily said quickly.
McGonagall’s eyes flicked toward the jumper Lily was wearing, then back to her face. For the briefest moment, something almost like amusement flickered across her face.
“And, Mr. Potter?”
James straightened.
“Yes, Professor?”
“Your ability to look pleased with yourself is remarkable.”
His face went red. “I assure you, Professor, that I – ”
“That’s enough from you, Potter,” Professor McGonagall interrupted. There was a brief pause before she held her hand out to indicate they should leave. “Go. Lead your meeting.”
They both bent to gather the booksacks they had dropped in their haste to embrace one another before they inched past Professor McGonagall.
“Mr. Potter.”
James froze just inside the doorway. “Yes?”
Professor McGonagall sighed. For a brief moment as she looked at him, her expression softened. Lily could have imagined she nearly smiled, then she shook her head. “Go.”
Frowning, James continued into the corridor, Lily hot on his heels.
“Miss Evans,” Professor McGonagall called after them when they were nearly to the end of the corridor.
Lily grimaced at her severe tone even as she and James both obediently turned around to find that she had stepped back into the corridor after them and was standing in the doorway. “Yes, Professor?”
“Do remember your own jumper in future, won’t you?” Her tone was still stern, but there was a spark of amusement in her eyes, and the hint of a smirk on her lips. “To prevent such ridiculous moments from occurring again.”
Lily bit her lip and nodded, embarrassed but no longer afraid Professor McGonagall would dock points or give them detention. “Yes, Professor. Sorry again, Professor. It won’t happen again, Professor.”
She took James’s hand in hers and ran, knowing she had no intention of keeping that promise.
Day 5 of 12 Days of Jily Christmas in July - McGonagall catches James and Lily after curfew and assigns them the punishment of decorating the castle for Christmas.
AO3
~2400
Lily sank down further in her chair as she awaited her fate. Beside her, James seemed annoyingly unperturbed.
But then, that tracked. He was used to being hauled into McGonagall’s office at any and all hours. Maybe not this year, since Head Boy duties seemed to have worked some sort of miracle on him. In previous years, however, being summoned to McGonagall's office had practically been routine.
She looked at him. He helped himself to a ginger biscuit from the tin on McGonagall’s desk. She slapped the back of his hand.
“What?” he hissed.
“Stop that! We are in enough trouble as is!” she reminded him.
“We’re fine,” James assured her. “McGonagall loves us.”
“I don’t think she particularly loves that she caught us out after hours,” Lily snapped.
“We’re Head Students. Sometimes we have to be out after hours,” James said.
“James.” Lily glared at him. Before she could remind him what they’d been caught doing after hours, the door opened and McGonagall strode into her office.
She looked livid. Her thin lips were pressed into a firm line, and she glared at them behind her square-rimmed spectacles.
“I never expected such abhorrent behaviour from the Head Students,” she began, a tremulous quality to the words. “And from my own House, too.”
“Professor,” James began. “I think…”
“What do you think, Potter?” McGonagall interrupted. “What do you think you can possibly say that will help your case?”
James wasn’t as quick to reply.
“I think…” he looked at Lily, then back at McGonagall. “I’m so sorry, Professor. I don’t know what happened.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“No, not really,” James said. He swallowed hard. “It’s – er – all a bit of a blur.”
“Miss Evans?”
Lily jumped when McGonagall suddenly turned her sharp gaze on her. “Yes, Professor?”
“Perhaps you can jog Potter’s memory?”
Lily’s voice caught in her throat. She felt impossibly warm. She looked at her hands in her lap and shook her head.
“No? Perhaps I can, then.” McGonagall sat in the ornate chair behind her desk. “Potter, where is your shirt?”
“Er–” James looked at Lily, and his shirt she was wearing. “I dunno. Must have lost it. It was…a bit warm, I think I recall.”
McGonagall did not look amused. She looked at Lily again. “Where is your shirt, Miss Evans?”
Lily couldn’t meet her eyes. For a moment, her mouth moved wordlessly. Then, “Somewhere in the abandoned Charms classroom, I think.”
“Warm in the Charms corridor in December, is it?” McGonagall said sarcastically.
James nodded weakly. “A bit, yeah, in my opinion.”
“And the position in which you were discovered?” McGonagall inquired. “What excuse do you have for that?”
She was looking at James expectantly, which was both a blessing and a curse for Lily. On the one hand, she didn’t have to scramble for an answer. On the other, James wasn’t doing a good job of it.
“Modesty,” he said, looking completely innocent about it. “You know. We – er – heard footsteps, and. Well, her shirt was not presently on her person, so the immediate solution to preserve her modesty was…”
He held his hands out in front of him. Mortified, Lily reached out and slapped them out of the air.
“Shut up,” she hissed.
“Yes, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall agreed. “Do us all a favour and quit talking.”
“Are you going to take our badges?” Lily asked miserably. “Or assign us detention for the rest of our lives, or dock a million points from Gryffindor?”
McGonagall surveyed her for a moment, then sighed. “Very well, Miss Evans. I, too, am eager to end this conversation.”
Lily took a deep breath, steeling herself. Beside her, shirtless still, James sat straighter.
“Tomorrow, you will assist the staff with the Christmas decorations.”
James stared at her. Lily waited. When nothing else came, the breath left her in a whoosh.
“Sorry, what?” Lily asked.
“The Christmas decorations,” McGonagall repeated, annoyed. “The trees and the ivy, the holly and mistletoe, the fairy lights and garlands and the endless ribbons.”
“That’s all?” James said.
“It’s a large castle,” McGonagall reminded them.
“Yes, ma’am,” Lily agreed.
“It will take up the whole day.”
James frowned. “Okay.”
“You will not be able to join your classmates in Hogsmeade,” McGonagall continued.
“Right,” James said slowly. There was a small smile playing at his lips.
“Do not look so pleased,” McGonagall warned sternly.
He quickly wiped the smile from his face.
“You will report to Hagrid first thing in the morning. He will direct you.”
“Yes, Professor,” Lily said. James nodded silently.
McGonagall stared at them. They stared at her. She shoved the tin James had already helped himself to in their direction. “Have a biscuit.”
Afraid McGonagall might get angrier if she didn’t, Lily took one. James took two, glancing at Lily with an I told you so look.
McGonagall pointed at the door. “Go. Return straight to your dormitories. Do not speak to one another. Do not look at one another. Do not kiss goodnight. Go straight to bed.”
Lily wanted to die of embarrassment as she nodded and followed James out of the office. He reached for her hand. She glared at him and pulled it away.
“Come on,” he murmured. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“That was humiliating!” she said.
“You’re not the one who was shirtless the whole conversation,” James grumbled.
“No, but I am the one whose tits she caught you pawing at,” Lily spat.
James gaped at her, looking incredibly offended. “Pawing?”
She said nothing. She stalked ahead of him. Angry, embarrassed, ashamed tears stung her eyes. She sniffled.
Behind her, James gasped in horror and rushed to catch up to her. “Are you crying?”
“No, I am not!” she insisted. Truthfully, she wasn’t. Not yet. Her eyes and nose just burned.
He caught her hand and pulled her to him in a comforting embrace.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Why are you sorry?” she demanded. “You didn’t make me do anything.”
“No, but…”
“You didn’t drag me there.”
“No. But.”
“It wasn’t even your suggestion. I pulled you out of the common room tonight,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, well…”
“I think I’m the one who took off both of our shirts, too,” she admitted.
“Well, yeah, you are,” he agreed, sounding very much like he was grinning again.
She pulled away to look up at him suspiciously, but his face was mostly blank when she did. There was a hint of self-satisfaction in his eyes that he hadn’t managed to hide in time. She sighed.
“I’m so embarrassed,” she pouted. “McGonagall is never going to respect me again.”
He stroked a hand through her loose, messy hair. “Lily, she assigned us Christmas decorating.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So, that’s not even a punishment,” James pointed out. “It’s not detention we’d have to explain, or docked points the whole House would notice. It’s something that can very believably be waved away as Head duty. No one is even going to question it.”
Lily thought about it. He was right. She cracked a small smile. “She really does love us doesn’t she?”
He nodded emphatically. “I really think we may be her favourite students of all time.”
“Okay, you’re right. It’s probably fine.” She shook her head, still in disbelief that they had been caught, and they started walking again. She looked over at him. “But I swear. If she ever catches us together with my whole chest on display again, I will die on the spot.”
He nodded solemnly, but he was smiling, the git. “I will not let that happen again.”
-
Decorating the castle for Christmas was much more exhaustingly mind-numbing than Lily had anticipated. It wasn’t particularly difficult, mind, but there were just so many banisters to wrap and so many Christmas trees to help Hagrid haul inside and countless suits of armor to charm. By the time she and James crossed paths in the Transfiguration corridor she was drooping.
“Long day?” he asked, lowering his wand after charming a tiny bundle of mistletoe to hover over a painting of the Black Lake that showed the giant squid waving its tentacles above the surface of the water.
She hummed a confirmation, even though it was only midday. “And not enough sleep, and too much mindless work.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. But he didn’t look exhausted. He could function on no sleep for a couple of days before he crashed. He was mad like that.
She walked over to a suit of armor and began to charm it to sing Christmas carols while James continued working his way through the box of decorations floating beside him. They worked quietly for a while.
Eventually, she realized he seemed to be following her as she worked. He was still decorating, but every time she moved on to a different task, she’d turn and find that he was just a little closer than he had been before. It would have been unsettling if it wasn’t him.
“Stop,” she warned him.
He looked at her for the first time since she’d started working. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What?”
“I know what you’re doing,” she informed him.
“Er –” He pointed his wand at the nearly empty box and a string of ivy floated out and wrapped itself around a column. “Decorating?”
She frowned at him. “Sure. Decorating.”
He shrugged and went about his business. She sighed and pointed her wand at a thick garland and made it drape itself from the ceiling running the width of the corridor.
She turned around. He was right behind her. She took a step back, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Oh no,” James said, not sounding at all dismayed. “Look at where we’ve ended up.”
Lily looked up to see that he had successfully herded her under a bundle of mistletoe he’d placed alongside her garland. She tried not to smile. Really, she did. She tried to send him her best McGonagall-inspired severe look. She failed.
“This is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place,” Lily reminded him, pressing a hand to his chest to stop him as he leaned in. She looked around, but there was no one but them in the corridor, of course. It was an unseasonably pleasant day out and all of the younger students were out basking in the rare sunshine while third years and older were all in Hogsmeade.
“A kiss leads to a kiss leads to a kiss leads to…” he trailed off with a wicked grin.
She flushed and rolled her eyes at him.
“I don’t recall mistletoe last night, though,” he continued, pretending to think back. “No. No, there definitely wasn’t mistletoe. What I do recall, though, is your hands. And the smell of your hair. And your lips, soft and wet and…”
“Oh, shut up,” she said, and pulled him close.
“Potter! Evans!”
They sprang apart guiltily. Professor McGonagall was standing at the end of the corridor, practically steaming from the roots of her neat black hair.
“Have you learned nothing?” McGonagall demanded, striding towards them, radiating disapproval.
“Sorry, Professor,” James said, not sounding particularly regretful. Lily could have kicked him.
“Mr. Potter, I understand that you are impossibly pleased to have finally gotten the girl of your dreams,” McGonagall snapped. “But do keep in mind that you are Head Boy. The title comes with certain expectations, not least of which is that you conduct yourself with some semblance of control.”
Lily glanced sideways at James. The back of his neck was turning red. He lifted a hand to it.
“Yes, Professor,” he said, suddenly looking appropriately remorseful. “I’m sorry.”
She lifted her chin and sent him a very stern look. Were he not so much taller now, Lily was sure she would have been glaring down her nose at him. Then, to Lily’s horror, McGonagall turned to her.
“As for you, Miss Evans.”
“It’s not her fault, Professor,” James interrupted swiftly. “Really, it’s all me. She didn’t do anything.”
McGonagall looked at him. Something in her expression softened.
“Very noble of you, Potter. Now you’re meeting expectations,” McGonagall said. “However, are you telling me that I did not, on two separate occasions now, catch Miss Evans very enthusiastically returning your affections?”
James opened his mouth, then closed it uncertainly. He really had talked himself into a corner here. On the one hand, he’d be handing McGonagall more evidence of Lily’s guilt. On the other, he’d be implying he was continually forcing himself upon her, which was very clearly not the case.
Lily didn’t want to be in trouble, but she didn’t need him to protect her.
“You did, Professor,” Lily said, wringing her hands together. “I’m so sorry. I just…”
She trailed off because what could she possibly say?
I just find him so alluring.
I just can’t control myself around him anymore.
I just don’t think you understand how incredible his mouth is.
Each was worse than the last.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated lamely.
McGonagall seemed to know what she was thinking anyway. A distasteful look crossed her face.
“You are a very talented girl,” McGonagall said. “A brilliant girl.”
Lily blinked. “Professor?”
“You are capable of controlling yourself,” McGonagall continued. “Remember that.”
Lily wasn’t so sure of that anymore. But she nodded gravely all the same.
“And me?” James asked. Lily shot him a warning look, but his attention was on McGonagall.
“And you?” she repeated, a vague mocking tone to the words. “At least attempt self-control.”
Lily couldn’t stop the quiet laugh that bubbled up. James shot her a baleful look.
McGonagall sighed and Lily and James returned their attention to her. “Go.”
“Professor?” Lily asked.
“Outside. Go,” McGonagall repeated wearily, pointing in the general direction of the Entrance Hall. “Join the rest of your classmates in Hogsmeade. You appear to have completed your task adequately before giving in to your irrepressible urges.”
“No detention?” James gaped.
“Would you like detention?”
“No!” James said quickly. “Sorry, no! Of course not.”
“Then go,” McGonagall repeated.
James grabbed Lily’s hand and dragged her past McGonagall.
“Do not let me walk around a corner and catch you two again,” McGonagall called after them. “Or there will be consequences.”
“Yes, Professor!” Lily called back, giggling as James picked up speed before McGonagall decided to set those consequences this time.
Once they were gone, Minerva let the stern expression slip away. She smiled and shook her head fondly.
“Those two,” she muttered to herself as she continued towards the staff room.
The Cauldron and Compass wasn’t new to Wizarding London. It had been there at least as long as James had lived in the neighborhood, and probably long before that—wedged between a wand-repair shop and a narrow brick building whose purpose seemed to change every few months.
The sign above the door creaked in the April wind, an old brass compass spinning lazily beneath a black iron cauldron. James ducked beneath it and stepped into the warmth.
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Annoyance, a deep, visceral annoyance that only Potter seems capable of generating, stirs up within her. Part of her still wants to storm out and away from him, another part wants to smack that smirk off his face, and a third very secret part that should never have existed in the first place can’t stop thinking about that photo, about her mouth on his, about his long fingers rucking up the hem of her shirt.
If she leaves now, she reasons, he’ll have gotten the last say, and that’d be absolutely no fair.
So she stalks over, plants her hands on her hips, and looks up at him. “Alright, new deal,” she says. “One kiss — one real kiss — and then you get it out of your system.”
(Spoiler alert: Neither of them gets anything out of their system.)
Day 1 of 12 Days of Jily Christmas in July *but it ends on the 25th instead of beginning then*
Lily and James are hounded by bunches of stalking mistletoe. James is going mad trying to work out who in Gryffindor Tower is responsible.
AO3
~2300
There had always been mistletoe floating about Hogwarts in the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays, as far as James could remember. In fact, just last year a particularly stubborn clump of the stuff had followed Davey Gudgeon around the castle incessantly until he had finally reluctantly kissed Bertha Jorkins just outside of the Great Hall on the last day of term. James had always suspected Sirius as the culprit behind that particular incident, but Sirius had refused to claim responsibility.
The fact that this year he, James, seemed to be the target of the dreaded clingy bunch of mistletoe did nothing to convince him that Sirius was not the one with the proclivity for this particular charm. Unfortunately, he couldn’t prove it since it didn’t actually behave the way it had last year with Gudgeon. Last year Gudgeon hadn’t had a moment of peace from the stalking mistletoe for three days before he’d given up and done something about it.
James’s mistletoe seemed to be selective about when it chose to stalk him. Sometimes Sirius was there with him, looking very convincingly unaware of what was happening, though James of all people knew how well Sirius could sell the innocent act. Sometimes, though, he knew for a fact that Sirius wasn’t around, whether Sirius was with a girl or in detention or off brooding, the mistletoe would zoom over to James, who stood scowling, looking for the person who had charmed it.
He suspected Remus for all of three minutes until Remus addressed it.
“What’s with the mistletoe?” Remus asked, attention fixed over James’s head as they sat in the squashy armchairs in front of the warmest fire.
“I should ask you,” James grumbled.
“Beg pardon?” Remus said mildly.
“I thought it was Sirius’s doing, but he’s off with Donna or whatever her name is. That Ravenclaw Seventh Year.”
“Dana,” said Peter.
James startled. He hadn’t noticed Peter coming down from their dormitory. Probably he had been too fixated on Lily Evans who had just entered the common room through the portrait hole.
“Yeah, her,” James said.
There was a similarly stubborn clump of mistletoe now bobbing along over Lily’s head as she crossed the common room. She noticed him sitting there, took note of his mistletoe, and looked up to see that she had one as well. She scowled at him and stomped up to her dormitory.
Over by a window near the boys’ staircase, Mary MacDonald was laughing to herself. James eyed her suspiciously.
The mistletoe over Lily’s head did not follow her up to her dormitory. The bunch over James’s head zoomed away, lingering near the fireplace. James pointed his wand at it and flicked to send it into the fire. It didn’t budge. He sighed.
“What’s going on?” Dorcas asked from a nearby couch, looking from James’s drawn wand to the stubborn mistletoe.
“I don’t trust a single person in this room,” James announced to the room as a whole as he got to his feet. A startled first year who realistically was probably innocent, stared after him as he headed out of the common room and down to the Quidditch pitch.
He flew for nearly two hours, diving and looping the pitch at top speed as he always did when he was frustrated, or angry, or disappointed, or just needed to clear his head. It just so happened that tonight he was experiencing all of those emotions.
He was on his way back up to the common room, chilled to the bone and still frustrated, when he turned a corner and nearly collided with Lily Evans herself. He stopped just short of toppling her over; his hand instinctively went to her arm to catch her as she reeled back. Almost immediately, he released her and stepped aside.
They both stared in horror as two nearly identical bunches of mistletoe came zooming toward them at breakneck speed, one settling squarely over each of their heads.
“Oh, for the love of Merlin!” he exclaimed.
“God damn it!” Lily shouted. “Potter, what have you done?”
“Me?” James was dumbfounded by the accusation. “You think I like having this shit floating over my head every time you’re around?”
“It’s floating over my head too!” Lily pointed out.
“I’ve noticed!” He turned and paced away from her, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself. She was still glaring at him when he turned back to face her. “You see the pattern, don’t you?”
“Yeah, of course I do,” she snapped. “I think the entire school has caught on this bloody mistletoe accosts me-”
“And me!” he cut in.
“- whenever you’re near me!” she continued loudly as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Do you really, honestly think I like the implication behind a bunch of mistletoe attaching itself to me whenever you’re around?” James demanded. “You don’t think it’s embarrassing for me, as well?”
“You’ve never been quiet about it before!” Lily shouted.
She didn’t have to define it. He knew what she meant. His huge all-consuming crush on her. He’d even made the stupidest decision of his life and asked her out in front of half the school at the end of last year.
“Yeah, well, I’m trying to be mindful of your feelings too, now,” he informed her.
He’d thought she’d noticed. They had been friendlier than ever before lately, and on a much more consistent basis than in years past. Some part of him, small and stupid and hopeful as it was, had thought maybe she was even starting to fancy him a little bit, too. It wasn’t until this mistletoe incident that she’d suddenly turned against him again. When he found out who was behind it, he was going to kill them.
“You really didn’t do this?” Lily asked uncertainly.
He looked at her. He had never seen her look so unsure of herself, not even as a first year entering a magical school as a Muggle-born.
“I swear I had nothing to do with this, Lily,” he said, walking back over to her. Her eyes, green as the forest and enchanting as anything he’d ever seen, roved his face as he approached.
“Maybe you put the idea into someone’s head, then,” she suggested, still studying him warily.
“Lily, I swear on the Quidditch Cup that I had nothing to do with this,” he said earnestly.
The corners of her mouth quirked upward. “Not the Quidditch Cup.”
“Yes,” he said gravely, putting one hand to his chest and raising the other in the air. “The Quidditch Cup.”
“Okay, I believe you,” she said quietly, smiling slightly as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry I’ve been awful to you since this started.”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I have the cleanest track record with this sort of thing.”
“But you have been a lot better this year,” she said softly. “That’s why I was so upset. It didn’t really make sense for you to suddenly backslide this hard.”
“I get it,” he told her.
They were quiet for a moment, each staring at the mistletoe over the other’s head. Then Lily sighed.
“It seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?”
He looked from her mistletoe to her face, frowning thoughtfully. “No? I really can’t figure out who did it. I thought, at first, Sirius. Then Remus. Mary’s been a bit weird lately. And Dorcas just showed up in the common room this afternoon.”
“No, James.” Lily laughed and shook her head. “I meant it’s obvious what we’re meant to do to get it to stop following us around, right?”
For a moment, he was too charmed by her smile to follow. Then, her words hit him like a train.
“You want to kiss?”
Her smile turned wry. “That’s not exactly what I said. Sorry. But I do think it’s what’s got to happen if we want to be free of it.”
“Right. Yeah, right,” James said, feeling foolishly out of his element. He had kissed girls before. Well, he had kissed a girl before. It had been nice. Fine. Decent. It hadn’t been awful. He hadn’t really thought much about it, or her, afterwards. He suspected he wouldn’t be so blasé about a less than extraordinary kiss with Lily Evans. Even less if it did turn out to be extraordinary.
“Should we, then?” she asked, looking up at him almost shyly.
He swallowed thickly, and nodded. “I mean, sure, yeah, if you’re comfortable with that.”
“I’m more comfortable with the thought of kissing you than the thought of this-” she scowled up at the mistletoe “-continuing to follow us around until the professors banish all the decorations.”
It wasn’t exactly the eager consent he had always dreamed of, but it was practical and he had to admit he didn’t care to have mistletoe zooming in and out of the room whenever they found themselves near each other.
“Alright, then,” he said, clearing his throat and taking half a step closer to her.
She held up a hand between them. He froze immediately. “No tongue.”
Despite himself and how incredibly nervous he was, he smiled. “That's fine.”
“I mean it. I will hex you if you shove your tongue in my mouth,” she said severely.
“Honestly, woman. I'm not some creep pervert trying to take advantage of you,” he said defensively. “This was your suggestion.”
“I'm just making myself clear,” she said.
“I get it,” he said and started to lean closer again.
“But make it nice, would you?” she requested. This close to her, he could see that she actually had a very light dusting of freckles along her cheekbones. Her dazzling eyes looked distinctly nervous, which somehow eased his own nerves a bit. “If I've got to kiss you, it should at least be enjoyable.”
“Would you shut up?” He said mildly and placed a hand on her waist.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, that's nice and romantic.”
“So sorry, Evans. I didn't realize this was a romantic moment,” he said sarcastically.
“Well, Potter, it's a ki-”
He slid his other hand behind her head and pulled her body flush against his as he pressed his mouth to hers. Her arms went around the back of his neck so quickly he wondered if it was instinct.
He kissed her like he would never have another chance because, honestly, he might not. And when she rose up onto the tips of her toes to press herself closer, lips soft and pliant under his, his grip on her tightened.
When her lips parted of their own accord, James kept his tongue firmly behind his teeth even as she deepened the kiss. And when he finally pulled back, he was intensely pleased by the dazed look on her face as her eyes fluttered open. He would be surprised if he didn't look similarly affected.
Her eyes widened as she seemed to come back to her senses and she took a step back, her arms falling from his shoulders.
“Well, I hope that was sufficiently…nice,” he said lamely.
She ran a hand down the length of her hair as if to fix any hair he may have inadvertently pulled disturbed. “It was…enjoyable, as requested.”
He grinned. He couldn't help himself.
“Don't do that,” she warned, but there was no heat behind the words, and the corners of her mouth hinted that she wanted to smile at him. His grin widened. “Stop.”
“I'm smiling,” he said. “You can't tell me not to smile.”
“You are not just smiling,” she argued as she turned on her heel and started up the stairs. “You look entirely too pleased with yourself.”
He remained silent, smiling to himself as he followed her along the familiar path towards the common room. Then, he noticed something. “Hey. Your mistletoe's gone.”
She stopped suddenly and wheeled around to face him, eyes wide. Her smile finally broke free. “So's yours.”
“Thank Merlin,” he muttered as they continued walking. “But you know what this means, don't you?”
“Yes,” she said, sounding darkly pleased. “Whoever did this to us is going to know we kissed. Which also means if they say anything…”
“They'll immediately give themselves away,” James finished.
“Exactly,” she said. “And then we can hex them!”
“You're a bit scary, Evans. Did you know that?” James said lightly. Honestly, he'd never fancied her more.
“I am a delightful person, I will have you know,” Lily told him as they walked up the last flight of stairs toward the Fat Lady.
“Usually, genuinely,” James agreed. “When you're not threatening to hex me.”
“Actually, that is when I am at my most delightful,” Lily insisted, chin up proudly.
“Many apologies,” James said on a laugh, turning to give the Fat Lady the password. “You're right, I love when you threaten me.”
She nodded sagely. “I always knew it.”
They stood there for a moment before they spotted their respective friend groups on opposite sides of the room. Sirius had turned up after his date, James noticed.
“Well, goodnight,” James said as he started toward the boys.
“Goodnight, James,” Lily said as she headed toward the girls. “And…thank you.”
He turned back to her and winked. “Anytime. Really. Anytime.”
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling and there was a pretty flush to her cheeks as she hurried over to the seat next to Mary.
“Hey, no mistletoe,” Sirius observed as James fell into the empty spot next to him on the couch.
“What about it?” James asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“It seemed like it was only following you around when Lily was in the room, and now it's not,” Peter added. He glanced toward Lily. “Hers is gone too.”
“Yeah, maybe we figured out how to break the enchantment,” James said, looking from Peter to Remus to Sirius again.
“Are you feeling alright?” Remus asked, frowning at James. “You're acting like a nutter.”
“I’m fine,” James insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing back at Lily to find that she seemed to be trying to coax the truth out of her friends as well. Between the two of them, James was certain they would get to the bottom of this.
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The truth was, nothing could be stolen if it was willingly given, and Lily had willingly given herself to James the moment he'd 'stolen' their first kiss. READ ON A03 Rated Mature.
The first thing Lily noticed while hiding behind the barrel of apples was the way his messy black hair stuck out of his red bandana in every which way. The second thing she noticed were his eyes, because they fluttered right over to her hiding spot.
Hazel sparked in her direction indignantly. He'd entered the tiny produce shop with the thrill of the chase, or plunder, or whatever it was that pirates got high off of.
The only thing was that he had no idea he wasn't the only one there.
It was Lily's second pirate raid without her father and, quite frankly, she was sick of it already. Lily had managed to convince her father that pirates only came to shore once in a blue moon. Now the universe was smiting her for thinking that she could handle herself alone for the few months he went back to England to marry her sister off. The produce store they sold goods from wasn't a high target for pirates, luckily. Everything they sold was from Lily’s garden which meant it would all spoil rotten during long days at sea.
That didn't stop her pirate, it seemed.
In the last raid, Lily had been more prepared. She’d hid away in the loft above her head. The loft had pull-away steps for safety so no one could climb up. There was even a loaded pistol up there, one Lily always kept loaded. Even though pirates had entered her shop that night, they took one look at the food, stole a few potatoes, and then left. No one found her, which was exactly how Lily expected every pirate invasion to go.
The world was clearly playing with her now. Currently stuck behind a barrel of apples, Lily was an easy grab for any pirate. She struggled to make herself smaller, wishing desperately that she had grabbed the fire stick for protection. It sat useless, far away from her, and she stared at it angrily. If she was spotted, she wondered if she could make it to the metal in time.
At least this pirate didn't seem like the last crew. They had burned a neighbor's house out of sheer spite because they couldn’t open the door. That crew had also taken women and children from their homes, never to be seen again. Lily was thankful everyday that those pirates never found her.
This pirate though, he seemed young and curious.
She watched as best she could, without giving her hiding spot away. He let his fingers slip over the countertops made of wood from the palm trees. He pocketed various little things as he went.
A handful of garlic.
A little knife that she used for cooking.
That bastard even took a bit of the pie that Lily had baked that morning. It was still warm and his eyes opened wildly with pleased glee. He quickly took a second piece of pie, and Lily watched as he savoured each bite.
Then, in the most un-pirate-like fashion, he placed a tiny gold coin next to the pie tin. She’d never known a pirate to take, and then give something back. All the stories about them charged them with thievery, murder and evil. Everyone on the docks said most of the time, pirates only came to their small island in quiet because they used it as a rest stop between the larger islands.
Lily was starting to wonder how often pirates needed to rest.
They were a small English trading post off the coast of the main island. The island had little in the way of protection from pirates since the KingsGuard was made up of twenty individuals. The other island had over one hundred soldiers to protect the larger city and its inhabitants working the spice trades.
Lily's own father was one of the twenty or so men sworn to protect the little island. Her father told her the Commodore on the main island believed that they were expendable. After all, they were a quick stop on a longer journey to the mainland.
Normally, the pirates left the small trading post alone anyways and hit the bigger islands. Unfortunately for Lily, the unprotected town was starting to become a treasure that no pirate stood to pass by. During the last raid, the pirates had taken five children and six women. Lily wondered how many more people would have to be stolen before the Commodore started to care.
She had a feeling the whole island could burn to the ground and no one would mourn them, except the people who survived.
Lily's curiosity got the best of her as the pirate made his way over to one of the barrels and plucked an apple from it. Lily only had one apple tree and so, they were a special treat. He bit into the apple as he looked around the shop with a conceited air. He acted as if he owned the place, standing there so bold, as if the world revolved around him.
The man had to be around her age, no older than twenty. There was still a boyish charm to his features that intrigued Lily. He looked clever, based on the sparkle in his eyes. He placed the half-eaten apple core on the table and shifted through some of the papers on the table. They were all letters to her father, not that he could probably read them. Pirates weren’t educated, most of them came from poor backgrounds, this one was probably no exception.
How had someone as young as him ended up on such a dark path?
How did someone end up like him, trading souls for the wind and waves of the ocean?
As he took another bite of the apple, she leaned too far forward to see a tattoo on his arm. She barely got a look before she lost her balance. Lily’s elbow hit the ground first and she cried out in pain. The rest of her body followed until she landed roughly on the dirt floor.
She scrambled to get up, but she wasn’t fast enough to go grab the fire stick for protection. The pirate dropped his apple, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to a standing position all in one swift swoop. The tension between them was so thick, she might’ve been able to cut it with a knife.
She pulled her arm against his hold. “Let me go.”
And then he said the strangest thing in return: “Would you let me go?”
She looked at him, sincerely confused by his blunt suggestion that she’d hand him over. Not because she wouldn’t hand him over, she would. Still, having the pirate point out that she’d jump to put him in shackles was the reason he was keeping her shackles with his hand was interesting.
“You’re a pirate.” She continued to try and pull her arm loose from his strong grip.
He stared her down with his clever eyes, “and does that make me worth anything less than freedom?”
“You steal women like me and sell us into slavery,” she gave him a bit of her own biting truth, “my freedom rests with you at a the gallows.”
"Not all pirates steal women."
"Not all women trust pirates."
“I have not met anyone like you in a while,” he winked at her, “most women know when to bite their tongues so that they do not lose them.”
“I don’t need my tongue.” She tried to remain stern and unafraid.
He seemed surprised by her answer as he retorted, “is that so?”
She tugged at his hold again while she said smartly, “I would still find a way to get my point across.”
“Something tells me you’ve never learned not to speak your mind.” He pulled out a sharp silver blade, twisted her arm, and then held the blade to her neck. She opened her mouth to scream but he moved his hand free of the dagger over her mouth. "I much prefer hearing a lady scream in a more pleasurable manner, not to send me to the gallows.”
She didn’t know what made her do it, probably fight or flight response, but she bit down on his hand.
The pirate didn’t even flinch.
“Really?” He sighed, as if annoyed by her attempts at self defense. “Biting, now, are we?”
“Let me go.” She wiggled against his grasp, not caring that he had a blade sharp enough to cut her open. “Let me go!”
“As you wish.”
He let go of Lily and took her by surprise, so she fell to the floor in a tangled mess of legs and skirts. He kept his knife aimed at her heart. She looked up from the floor, wiping her cheek with her sleeve. The man kneeled beside her, looking her dead in the eye. He twirled the knife between his fingers as they got caught in a staring contest.
Despite the terror in her heart, Lily managed to take a deep breath and assess her assailant. Their noses were inches apart and he seemed fascinated by her. Lily was struck by how handsome he was. She was certain that with a proper bath and nicer clothes, the man holding a knife to her life would have no trouble on a ballroom dance floor.
She wasn't the only one staring; his hazel eyes were tracing her face with sudden interest. The knife lowered an inch closer to her neck and his grip loosened. His eyes dropped to her neck where her only piece of jewellery was shining bright against his blade. One of his hands reached for the gold chain with its golden flower pendant.
"Please don't touch that," she begged as his thumb brushed against the flower petals.
He paused, "have you ever held your tongue in your life?”
"I will not be quiet," she said bravely, or stupidly, “when something must be said.”
The pirate shook his head, impressed at her cheek. "You’ve got a hurricane in your veins, girl."
“I am a woman,” she said venomously, “not some child.”
“I was commenting on your small stature, good Lady.” He seemed to enjoy bantering with her. “You are just as I imagine a member of the Fae court would look.”
“I am no Fae,” Lily said, “but I should thank you, for a kind compliment as they are rumoured to be devastatingly beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.” He winked, “now, about your lovely necklace...”
“Please don’t take my necklace.” Lily hoped that the smile on his face was as kind as it looked. "It's all I have left from my mother."
“Where is your mother?”
Lily pushed onto her elbow. "She died from fever when I was young."
His knife was almost fully pulled away. “And your father?”
“In town.” She lied quickly, too quickly.
He shook his knife at her, raising one of his brows suspiciously. “Don’t lie, Fae.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You looked away when I mentioned your father,” the pirate said, “and I also saw letters written in a woman's tidy hand, for a father, meaning the good gentleman is not here.”
“You can read?” She asked in astonishment.
“Yes.” The Man seemed tickled by her shock at his education. “Now, where is your father?”
“Gone,” she finally admitted, “he’s gone to marry off my older sister in London.”
The pirate looked even more confused, “he intends to marry your sister off, but not you, who also is presumably of marrying age?”
She flushed as his roundabout question, “I am not the marrying type.”
“I can understand that.”
She watched as he held out his hand to her. She took it carefully, not trusting him, even as he pulled her to her feet. The pirate dropped her hand almost instantly after she was standing, acting as if she’d burned him. Lily placed her necklace between her palm and her chest, not sure what was about to happen.
The pirate motioned around at the whole shop. "Do you have anything I could take?"
"Nothing of value," she replied curtly, “but there is a barrel of potatoes behind this shanty.”
"You don't need the potatoes?"
"I don't fancy potatoes as much as I do the fresh fruit from the island."
"Then I'll take the potatoes." The man leaned closer to Lily and wrinkled his nose at her impishly. "I must be honest, as there is something else I've been admiring."
"The necklace isn't worth anything to you, what it’s worth to me," she said, “you would just sell it.”
"Debatable." The pirates hand fell to her neckline, racing the gold chain through his fingers. “I quite fancy unusual things.”
"Please, take whatever else you like in the shop but let me keep my necklace.”
His smirk threw her off, "what if the reason I like the necklace is because I fancy the Fae wearing it?"
Lily took a step back and her eyes fluttered to the fire stick, still far away and out of reach. The pirate saw her eyes fluttering and he shook her lightly to get her attention. She turned her gaze back to him slowly just as he was rolling his eyes.
"I don't mean to take you."
“You sure?”
He said passionatly, "Gods, no, I don't work in slavery trades."
"Then what kind of pirate are you?" she questioned.
"A horrible one really."
“I don’t believe that.”
His smile faded and he nodded at her necklace, "I’m horrible enough to want that necklace around your neck, around mine instead, so I might remember you."
"You can't have it," Lily said firmly, “it’s not for taking.”
She couldn't prove it, but she had a feeling this pirate would never harm a hair on her head.
There was mischief in his tone and she was taken off guard when he pulled his knife back and stuffed it into his belt. "I must take something, Fae."
She shook her head, "no, you mustn't."
She took a step back when the pirate stepped forward. He had a dangerous look in his eyes and Lily covered her necklace with her hands, glaring at the him.
"Take anything in the shop," she told him, "go ahead."
He shrugged and took another step closer. "Your shop literally has nothing else of value. Your produce would spoil after two days."
"Then leave," Lily posed, her eyes dropping to his lips when he licked them.
"Oh?" He asked, reaching up and running his fingers through her hair. The pirate took a step forward and he stepped into her. She was startled when he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I think I know what I'd like to borrow from this shop..."
“Borrow?”
Lily’s voice shook as he grabbed her chin with his fingers. He was handsome, smooth-talking, and she was smitten. There was no denying it, not when she couldn’t look away from his eyes. She had been feeling alone for so long, it only seemed normal for her to let down her guard the minute a handsome man showed the slightest of interest. Island life had its perks, but she had to admit that even she got lonely sometimes.
"You can't take my necklace,” she murmured weakly.
“I know,” he whispered back, “but this is more like borrowing."
"Borrow what?"
"One thing, so that I might not forget your eyes, or how lovely that necklace looks against your skin when I get lonely.”
She was surprised at the turn of conversation. “What does that mean?”
“I might walk away from here without you,” he said, “but I imagine it will be a long time before I live without you invading my spare thoughts late at night.”
“I imagine you wouldn’t like me much at night,” she said wittily, “I find my tongue grows looser in the dark.”
The pirates grip on her waist tightened. "I don't think you quite understand."
“I understand,” she replied, “are you not understanding me?”
“I don't believe we're speaking in tongues anymore, Fae."
“You don’t need to take anything,” she supposed, tilting her head at him, “not if I give it.”
“I so hoped you’d say that.”
And then he kissed her.
She'd only been kissed once before and this was nothing like that. His lips guided hers by moving slowly, pushing and tugging to open her mouth. He tasted like the apple he'd been eating before finding her. His fingers gripped the sides of her face, maneuvering her so he could deepen the kiss after she didn't protest.
How could she protest?
He was kissing her like he’d known her forever.
The little movement of his fingers on her jaw made her raise onto her tiptoes. She pressed against his mouth a little more presumptuously, feeling equal parts invigorated and wild. She never wanted to kiss another man, not after this one swept her so easily off her feet. Her fingers wrapped themselves in the long strands of hair at the base of his neck as her knees weakened from staying on her toes.
Finally, when she realized she was panting and gasping for air, she pulled herself away from his touch. They both just stared at each other as she drew air into her lungs. He swallowed thickly and then stroked her cheek with his knuckles sweetly. The sound of a bell rang through the air, far enough away that she knew it came from the shipyard.
"Stay here, and don't follow me."
“What?” She was still dazed from his kisses.
He placed one more chaste kiss against her mouth before he bounded for the door, "I'll keep my promise."
"What promise?" She asked, tilting her head at him.
"Check your neck."
Her fingers flew to where the necklace normally sat and she found her neck bare. She looked up in shock to find him dangling it and winking at her. He must've taken it while kissing her.
“You—you—ugh! Pirate!”
He saluted her as he ran out the door, "it's been an honor doing business with someone as beautiful and as clever as you, Fae."
He ran out and she almost followed him but at the last second, she froze. He’d stolen less than her life. She didn’t want to risk fate by tempting another pirate to find her.
At least the pirate who stole her necklace stayed true to his word. No more men or women entered her shop the whole afternoon. In fact, moments after he sauntered out, the threat seemed to dissipate on it’s own. Lily's neighbor, an old woman with thick black hair, came to check on her at night. The old woman assumed Lily was shaking from the shock—not from the kisses of a charming pirate with messy black hair.
The pirates stole a few guns from the KingsGuard and dried meats from the butcher. A barrel of potatoes had been stolen from out behind Lily's shop. She wrote her father to tell him of the stolen goods but left out her adventures with the pirate. No father wanted to hear his daughter had a quick snog with a seaman when he strolled into the shop.
Lily thought of the pirate often, even though she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't help wondering if the pirate thought of her just as often, as he predicted he would. She dreamed about what his name could be and how he’d become a pirate in the first place. She also dreamed about his kiss, which lingered longer than intended at night when she was alone.
~~~
A rainstorm brought massive waves and flooded the town a week later. Lily’s house was far enough off the shore that there was little damage but she still had to check on a lot of her garden. She spent a full week replanting and trying to save most of the garden. The local plants survived the storm, but some of the flowers Lily grew from London were struggling in the humid heat. Her fingers were deep in the soil, digging holes for the greens she was planting next to the radishes when the pirate returned.
“Hello little Fae.”
She looked up from her job at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widened when she saw it really was her pirate. She stood up slowly, unsure in his presence after so many weeks wondering. He wore grey breeches and a white shirt that had golden trim. He looked much nicer than the last she saw of him, more like a gentleman. She brushed her dirt covered hands against her apron as he sauntered up to her.
“You came back,” she breathed in awe, “you’re here.”
He gave her a white smile. “I figured I needed to give you a reason to trust me.”
“My necklace?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar golden chain. She outstretched her hand and he dropped the trinket back into her grasp. She immediately went to put it on and he watched her with interest.
“Thank you for bringing it back,” she said as she clipped it into place, “I thought I’d never see it again.”
“I wore it everyday,” he said, “just so I wouldn’t forget to bring it back to you.”
“Are the other pirates here with you?” She furrowed her brow, “the ones from the last raid?”
“No, I hitched a ride from the main island.” He reached out to touch her red braid. “A fisherman owed me a favor and I didn’t have a assignment this weekend.”
“Don’t pirates normally live on a ship in the ocean?” She asked as he leaned over to smell her only rose bush. “Isn’t that your job?”
He plucked one of the roses as he responded lightly, “the land is safer in these parts and not all men who travel with pirates, are pirates.”
“So you’re a fake pirate?”
He chuckled as he twirled the rose between his fingers, “I’m a marauder, a man for hire.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I am hired for many different jobs based on my skill set.”
“And what are your skills?” She knew she was being nosy, but she couldn't help it when she’d thought about him so much. She had so many questions to ask him, her marauder-ing pirate.
He reached forward and placed the rose between the ribbon holding her braid. “Spying, lying and not dying are my top three skills.”
She looked up from staring at the rose and his tan hand. “You’re a spy?”
He shrugged. “Depends on the mission.”
She looked down at her bare feet and wiggled her toes, “I don’t see why you have to be hired to plunder a small island like ours.”
He crossed his arms and defended himself. “Now hold on a second, we didn’t plunder. We only took what we needed.”
She grabbed her necklace pointedly. “You didn’t need my necklace.”
“Why do you think I brought that back?” He asked, flicking at her braid. “Besides, I had a few questions for you.”
“What?” She tilted her head, “you have questions for me?”
“Yeah,” he said, “about pirates.”
She snorted, “I would think you were well versed in such a subject.”
“I’m talking about specific pirates,” he explained, “pirates who wear tattoos of snakes up their arms and legs.”
“You’re the only pirate I’ve ever met,” she said, “the last time a ship came into the harbor, they stole a few wives and children, but I was spared from too much attention because I live so far from the docks.”
He scratched his chin. “When did they take the children and women?”
She thought back to her first raid alone. “About two full moons ago.”
“Interesting.”
He stayed quiet, thinking to himself. She rolled the flower on her necklace as she stared at him. He was so much more handsome when he was all clean and wearing proper clothes. She eyed his arms in particular, remembering what it was like to be held by them. He turned away and she was woken up from her daze.
He was leaving, just like that.
“Where are you going?” She called, half hoping for another kiss.
He stopped to look over his shoulder. “Well, the fisherman will be waiting on me. I only had so much time.”
“It was nice to see you again!” She wrapped her fingers into her skirts, stepping over her radishes as she partially made the move to follow him.
He tipped an imaginary hat at her, “likewise, little Fae.”
“Will you be back?” she called.
He didn’t answer.
~~~
After that, she assumed she’d never see the pirate-for-hire again.
She worked her days away in the gardens and spent nights by the fire sewing herself a new dress. Her father had sent fabric to her, along with a note promising that he would return as soon as Petunia was married off to the Duke that Lily had originally been promised too.
Lily was thankful that she was no longer promised to the awful Duke, for she never wanted to leave her tiny island. She almost died from inflicted fever when she was sixteen. It had seemed like the end of any hopeful prospects for Lily when the doctors explained to her that she would likely never have children. The higher society ladies wouldn’t even come near her when rumors got out.
Everyone said she was ruined because no man would want her.
They were wrong, it turned out, because a marauder wanted her.
Sure, Lily would never see the pirate again, but it was nice to know he saw something in her that made him pause. He liked her enough to bring her back her necklace. He had looked at her once and decided he wanted to kiss her. She wasn’t a usual woman, so it fit that she would never have a usual relationship. The day her father got stationed on the island was honestly the biggest blessing Lily could have asked for. No one on the island cared that she couldn’t have children. Most of the inhabitants only cared about the produce that she brought to markets.
Her island was a paradise compared to the superficial London society.
Lily stopped thinking about her pirate friend, for the most part.
Sometimes, when she was down by the docks, she thought she saw him once or twice. She didn’t, but it kept him on her radar. She mostly thought about him when she was working in her garden and had a lot of time to drop into fantasy.
On one particularly hot day, when she was trying to keep her flowers from wilting, she thought of his smile. She wished she could see it again, as it had been a very nice smile to look at.
“You look even more like a Fae among the flowers.”
She looked up and felt her heart lurch in her chest. Her pirate was back. He was leaning against a lattice of peppers, when she spotted him. Suddenly, she felt a flush rising onto her cheeks. She stood up and almost ran to him, but held herself back.
“Lady Fae.” He tipped his hat at her politely.
She washed her hands in the bucket of water she’d been using to water her flowers. “I didn’t expect you to return.”
“What's your name?" He demanded brusquely.
"I’m called Lily." She said, pushing her fingers through her long red hair, "like the flower."
He nodded, as if her name seemed acceptable.
He plucked a pepper off a vine and chewed on it, his hazel eyes were still staring at her. Lily noticed he was wearing black shorts that seemed short at the knee. A tattoo of a crescent moon was placed at his ankle. Lily bit her lip as she scanned him up and down, appreciating his tan skin. There were a few more tattoos but she just couldn't make them out.
"What do they call you?" she asked.
He noticed Lily bite her lip and he pushed off the lattice in response. "I don't think it'd be wise to tell you my name."
"Afraid I'd turn you into the authorities?" she countered.
"No," he said, “you’ve had plenty of chances to put me in the gallows and you haven’t yet.”
"Why can't I know your name then?" Her toes sunk into the loose ground where she’d watered. “Don’t you trust me?”
The pirate waltzed casually towards her with a shrug of his shoulders, "there are worse people out there looking for me than the KingsGuard."
When he stood next to Lily, she was reminded just how tall her pirate was. He looked down at her and she kept her nose pointed up at him. The warm breeze twisted through his hair, turning some of the longer strands into curls. The silence between them was suffocating and filled with lust, between the both of them.
"I thought pirates were meant to be intimidating and cruel," she confessed, “but I can’t stop thinking that might be wrong when it comes to you.”
"And I thought no woman could hold my fancy longer than a moment." He brushed back her red hair, tucking it behind her ear, but then he retracted his hand. "Then again, I’m still not convinced you aren’t a Fae and you have me under some magical spell."
“I’m just a woman.”
“You’re more than just anything.”
She glowed as he leaned down to press his lips against hers. Lily didn't find herself stopping him as he drew her tight into his frame. She opened her mouth against his with surprising eagerness. The taste in his mouth was sharp from the hot pepper he’d eaten. Her hands were like ice against his hot skin but that didn’t make him flinch away. Lily relished the kiss before it was gone again.
She kept expecting him to pull away, but his fingers only tightened at her waist. His lips left hers so that he could plant kiss after kiss along her jaw. Lily kept her fingers wrapped in his shirt while he memorized her neck with his tongue and teeth. A part of Lily knew that at any moment, anyone could pass behind the garden and see her but she couldn't bring herself to care.
It’s not like anyone would find it scandalous, or unladylike.
There was only one rule on her paradise island: stay alive.
And kissing the pirate made her feel so alive.
Her toes dug into the loose soil at her feet as she leaned into her tiptoes, brushing her lips against his ear as he kissed her neck. All she wanted to do was lean up against something to give herself the ample leverage to appreciate his kissing. Slowly she managed to nudge him back to the trellis covered in colorful peppers. His lips made their way back to hers. The kisses were hot and opened mouthed, like he couldn't get enough of her.
She felt the sweltering sun shining down on her arms and back through the lattice. It was nowhere near as hot as his body against hers. She moved her hands from his hair to his jaw, taking over the kissing so it was longer and deeper. The shape of her body fit against his so perfectly it almost felt like he was made for her.
"I have to go," he told her, but his grip only tightened.
She nodded, but they kept kissing. He pushed her back up against the lattice and it rocked from the pressure. Her nails clawed into his shoulders as he hitched one of her legs onto his hip. She felt him everywhere all at once, she began shaking from the anticipation. The friction between them only grew, making her dizzy.
He ripped his mouth from hers, "I rode a fisherman's boat here; I have to catch it back to the main island before my friends notice I'm gone."
"You're not supposed to be here?" Lily questioned as he brushed his fingers through her hair.
The pirate shrugged, letting go of her hips. "I'm not supposed to become attached to anyone."
"You've grown attached?"
“I think of you everytime I look out at the waves, Fae.”
“I’ll think of you everytime I see the peppers,” she touched his chin. “And late at night, when I meet my loneliest self.”
“Lily,” He used her real name and she felt her heart soar. “Do not think that I won’t think of you, even when I am surrounded by people, I will think of you most often, then.”
“When will you come back?” she asked, unraveling herself from him, “soon?”
“I have a job,” he said, “and it could take me far from here for longer than any usual woman would like to wait.”
“I’ll be here,” she said, “dreaming of you.”
“Will you smile when you dream of me stealing your kisses?” he asked as he adjusted his shirt.
“Yes.”
Just like before, he pressed a chaste kiss against her lips and then ran away. She didn't have the time to tell him that he didn't have to steal anything from her, she was certain she'd give him everything for free.
Instead, he left her alone in the garden with a new fetish for the taste of peppers.
~~~
The next time he came back to the island was different.
A desperate banging came from the back door of the shop in the middle of the night. Lily woke up in the loft from the banging and scampered down the stairs. Terrified, Lily peered through a tiny peephole and spotted her Pirate, he was bloody and battered on the stoop. He was holding another boy in his arms, a adolescent boy with a beautiful face and slick black hair.
“Lily!” He begged, “help me!”
Lily yanked open the door and her pirate looked relieved when she did. Wordlessly they exchanged a look as he came inside the shop without a word. Lily fastened and barred the door behind the boys. Her pirate took his friend to the wooden table by the fire and immediately started tearing a bloodied shirt off the boy. Lily winced when she saw a wound producing sticky blood on his side.
"What happened?" she exclaimed as she turned on the oil lamps.
"I'm sorry!" Her pirate exclaimed, tears glistening in his eyes. "You were the closest person I knew and Sirius—he got shot. Can you help him?"
Lily bit her lip and didn't say anything as she got the herbs and medicines from the glass cabinet in the back of the shop. Lily's sister had taught her enough about healing for Lily to know she had to get the shards of bullet from the wound. She plucked a pair of metal pickers from the tabletop before rushing to her Pirate's side. The pirate was holding on tightly to the unconscious boy, almost like he'd hold onto Lily when they kissed.
"I need to get the bullet shards from the wound." Lily didn't think her pirate cared about how she did it, as long as it worked but she felt better talking about it. "Could you get me the pot of honey from the cabinet in the back?"
"Honey?" He was cute when he was puzzled.
"It helps bring inflammation down." She promised as she fished through the wound to find thick chunks of bullet, causing the boy on the table to call out in his shattered dream.
She worked in silence, not focusing on the amount of blood and only on the wound itself. She was trying her best to help his friend, knowing she must have been his only option. She assumed the KingsGuard shot his friend. Lily wondered what her pirate was doing when it happened. She decided it was probably better not to ask.
He wouldn't even tell her his name, let alone what job he’d been doing.
After she extracted every piece of bullet she could see, Lily cleaned up the wound as her pirate sat by the fire with his head in his hands. She used a clean wet cloth to wipe up the blood and spilled the last bit of gin her father had over the wound. The boy (Sirius was what her pirate called him) was still breathing and Lily hoped he'd be all right.
“Is your father still gone?" Her pirate finally spoke when she finished cleaning the wound.
She brought a clean cloth to her pirate and knelt down on the floor next to his chair. He looked up from his hands and she saw the anguish in his eyes. They stared at each other as she placed the cloth against his face, wiping away the blood. She was happy to see he was bullet free, even if he had a nasty bruise on his cheek.
"My father is in England, at least until the Spring." She explained her situation. “He will return after my sister's wedding.”
“That’s another few months.”
“Yes,” she nodded, “but I don’t mind.”
"You must be some woman," he murmured, "to live on this island alone for so long."
“I get lonely sometimes.” She swallowed, “but sometimes, I am visited by a handsome gentleman.”
“Do you smile when you dream of him?”
“Everyday.”
Lily reached up and pulled back his collar so she could rub away at the blood on his shoulder. He winced when she did so she untied the shirt and pulled it off. He was covered in multiple bruises all over his neck, shoulders, stomach and back. She bit her lip and shook her head softly.
“You should see the other guy,” her pirate joked.
"Who did this to you?" Lily wished she knew how to heal bruises quickly.
"A pirate."
She looked him in the eye, “your crew did this to you?”
He shook his head. "No, this was Captain Riddle’s crew. He burned the ship Sirius and I were working on. Killed the whole crew. Stole all the treasure. Sirius and I barely escaped through the brig as the ship went down."
“Captain Riddle?" Lily grew more concerned after recognizing the name. "He's the most vile pirate captain on the seven seas, my father has told me stories about him."
Her pirate winced when she pressed her fingertips against the bruise on his shoulder. “Easy, Fae, that's tender."
She lifted her hand, removing the pressure. “I need to clean you up.”
“I know, just go easy.” He winced when she tried again. "Gods, I'd take the KingsGuard over that bloody pirate crew, any day."
Lily wondered about this boy, this man, who had found his way into her life by stealing a kiss during a raid. She continued cleaning his wounds, only pausing when he reached out to pull at a strand of her hair falling over her shoulder. He tucked it behind her ear and she met his gaze, so passionate and ominous.
“I’m sorry for bringing this upon you, Lily.” He sounded so sad, “but we were right off the island when he attacked, and I knew I could get Sirius to you before I lost him to the bullet.”
“I hope he makes it,” she whispered. “I’m not a doctor or a healer.”
“You’re made of magic, little Fae,” he said softly, “that’s enough for me.”
"Will Captain Riddle look for you?" she asked curtly as she wiped dried blood from his side.
His fist clenched by her right shoulder. "He wouldn't dare."
Something about his tone made Lily believe that Captain Riddle would dare.
"Does he know you escaped?"
He shook his head, “Riddle probably thinks we went down with the ship.”
“Might be better,” she assumed softly, “to be a dead man.”
“Might be,” he agreed, “but I’ve always been a dead man walking.”
“I, for one, would never kiss a dead man.”
Something flickered in his eyes and he laughed. The sound made her smile too. James reached up to run his fingers through her hair, likely remembering their rendezvous in the garden. His eyes searched her face, like he was looking for something there. She hoped he found whatever he was looking for, because her face was usually an open book.
"Thank you for helping him." He nodded to the boy on the table. "He's my best friend, my brother, and I—"
"It's fine." Lily interjected, "I'm glad I could help."
"He'll need time to recover, do you think we could stay a while?"
Lily took his hand, "my home is your home."
He said, squeezing her hand, “thank you, Fae.”
She thought he'd kiss her again in that fiery way he so liked, but she was surprised when instead, he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She watched as he stood up and walked over to the boy passed out on the table. He stared at the boy with as much worry as any brother would.
Lily wondered how long they'd been together as partners in crime.
"What's your God-given name?" She asked him as she washed the bloodied clothes in the wash basin.
"James."
She turned to lean against the washbasin and continued to stare at her pirate. He had one hand in his hair, ruffling it as he gawked at her. She tilted her head at the pirate, considering his name and the name of the boy on her table.
"Sirius and James." She spoke their names like she was testing them out. "Bit blue-blood if you ask me."
"Sirius is a run away blue-blood." James sat down on the chair closest to him and weaved a tale with his hands, "he joined a crew of pirates after he found the military to be too rigid."
“And you?”
He squinted at her. "I’m an orphaned blue-blood, but a blue-blood, nonetheless.”
“You have no family?” She deduced.
“No,” he said, “unless you count Sirius.”
“What happened to your family?”
James barely flinched when he said, “Captain Riddle took them down with their ship in the middle of the Atlantic when I was twelve.”
She rubbed her arms and stared at the floor before she declared, "I'm happy you're okay and he didn’t get you too."
“Even if he does get me eventually,” James said darkly, “I’ll come back and haunt him until his dying day.”
Lily did not know what else to say to James, so she checked on the boy laying on her table. When she was certain he’d be okay, Lily dismissed herself for bed. James just nodded slightly at her, his eyes trained on his brother.
She fell asleep in her loft listening to James talk to Sirius softly. He used a voice so low, she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Still, it was nice, knowing she wasn’t alone and they weren’t either.
~~~
The next morning, Lily woke up and came down from the loft to find James making a fruit salad on the table where his friend Sirius had been asleep. Now, Sirius was awake and nursing his head in his hands. Sirius looked up from his hands when she descended the ladder. Her skirts swung around her ankles as she landed near the table.
Someone had cleaned the blood off her table. James had a collection of fruits in his hands. Some were from the island but most were from her garden. He must’ve gone out on his own at some point. Lily turned to the boy with the bullet wound first, keeping him her too priority.
“Are you feeling better?”
The boy said, nodding his head in her direction, "I am! Cheers for the help, Lady Lily."
"I can clean your wound again, if you like?" she offered, pointing to the red mark on his abdomen, “it looks inflamed.”
Sirius shrugged her offer, "nah, I've had worse."
"You got shot." James said doubtfully from where he was mixing the fruit together, “let her clean it.”
"I fought off a shark once." Sirius countered, “if that didn’t kill me, this won’t.”
"It was a dolphin." James replied dubiously, “and all it did was play with your breeches.”
"I was viciously attacked,” Sirius emphasised.
James rolled his eyes as he bickered, "A bullet and a dolphin are two entirely different entities."
Lily stifled a giggle and both boys shot her entirely different looks. James smiled back goofily at her, making her heart beat faster. Sirius still looked at her like she was a puzzle to solve.
James, encouraged by her smile, held up the bowl of mixed fruit. "I made us breakfast."
"Domestic." Sirius said gruffly, cutting over Lily's soft thank you. “You going to go out and hunt dinner for us too?”
Lily took a piece of banana before she considered James again. "Martha Edleton, my neighbor, might stop by soon. She always brings fresh bread for some of my jam."
"Will she find it strange for you to have us here?" Sirius piped up while he was fishing pineapple from the fruit bowl.
"Not any stranger than she usually finds my solitary lifestyle." Lily shot back, “she is the only person on this island who truly cares that I am a young woman living on her own with no husband, and naturally she must remind me of it. So, she’ll probably be elated that I have two eligible bachelors in my home.”
“I wouldn’t call me eligible,” Sirius said.
“Do you have a cock?”
Sirius snorted from amusement and James coughed into the apple he’d just taken a bite of. “Yeah, I’ve got one of those.”
“Then you’re eligible enough for Martha,” Lily said. “She’d match me up with any man who’d take me.”
"Oh, your Fae's got a tongue on her," Sirius nudged at James. "Now I kinda see what you were saying about her.”
Lily let her eyebrows raise. “What was James saying about me?”
“That you’re-”
James grabbed an apple from the barrel at his feet and shoved it into Sirius' mouth before asking Lily swiftly, “want us to hide when Miss Martha comes?"
Lily shrugged, still interested in what Sirius had to say. "If you've got to stay here for a while, you might as well let yourselves be seen by my neighbours."
“No one will question what a young lady is doing alone with two men?” James seemed surprised, “not at all?”
"Yeah, we'd prefer to keep a low profile." Sirius asked once he had finished chewing the apple bit in his mouth.
Lily leaned on her elbows as she said curtly, "well, I'm certain that Martha has no connections to Captain Riddle, so you both should be safe on that note."
“We don’t want to get in the way of your reputation amongst the others in town.” James said, “a young woman is not supposed to live alone with two bachelors.”
“You’ll find our island is less about societal standards,” she said, “and more about just living.”
“Society is a bitch.” Sirius said, “so your island sounds like paradise.”
“It is,” Lily replied, “why do you think I stayed, while my father and sister are in London?”
“Yes well,” James said, “we can at least tell people that we work for your fathers trading company.”
“My father is a soldier,” she explained, “this shop is technically my own.”
“Really?” Sirius sounded impressed, “you own this place?”
“The town had no fresh greens,” Lily said, “but I had brought seeds from London and when I started trading, this became my place.”
“Fine,” James said, “then we’re here to work with you.”
“That's fine,” Lily eyed the blood from Sirius on all the shirts and towels, "but perhaps we should wash the blood off everything, so Martha doesn’t ask too many questions."
Lily found the men some old shirts that her father had left in the loft. They both washed up near the well using some of the soap Lily made. After a good shave and helpful shampooing, Lily had to admit that both boys looked more like local travelers than sea-faring pirates.
James had won the heart of Mrs. Martha Edleton in ten seconds flat. Lily had convinced the older woman that James and Sirius were business partners with her father. Martha didn't once question that smooth-talking James was a trader from the high seas. She did warn Lily that Sirius seemed like trouble but Sirius only found that to be delightful.
~~~
One week passed and the boys were accepted into the island life as if it had been made for them.
Sirius warmed up to Lily quickly, often going out to collect pretty shells from the ocean for her to use as decoration. She quite liked him too, when he wasn’t being a prick. Sirius had a sharp bite to his character, but deep down he seemed incredibly loyal.
One night, the second week into their stay, Lily became ill.
James went to town on his own to get her herbs for the fever. Sirius got to work while James was out and made Lily tea. He took her mind of the fever with stories of his crazy blue-blood family back in England. Lily shared stories of her social climbing sister to appease Sirius, who seemed happy to hear he wasn't the only one with odd family members.
James returned with the medicine and they mixed it into her tea. Sirius tucked her into a pile of blankets by the fire. James sat next to her while Sirius brushed her hair and kept talking about his childhood.
“Why didn’t you stay in London, Lily?” Sirius asked when he had finished his story. “Certainly a woman as pretty as you must have been betrothed.”
Lily fingered the edges of the blanket. Beside her, James had gone rigid where he’d been playing with a shell. She leaned into Sirius as he braided her red hair intricately across all the red and gold strands.
“I was betrothed,” she told them, “I was actually betrothed to the man that my sister is now marrying.”
“What?” Sirius acted as if she’d just said the Queen was eloping with a rabbit. “Your sister stole your betrothed?”
“I wouldn’t say stole,” Lily sipped her tea, “as much as borrowed.”
Sirius didn’t stop braiding her hair but James had stopped fiddling with his shell. Lily caught him staring at her worriedly through the corner of his eye. She pulled the blanket around her legs more.
“Did you love him?” James wondered out loud.
“No.” James seemed to relax at her reply. “My sister can have him.”
“How did he go from you, to your sister?” Sirius asked. “That’s got to be a wild story.”
“I got really sick,” she said, “worse than this, so much worse. The fever almost killed me. When I recovered, the doctor said that I would probably never be able to have children.”
James’ hand found hers and he squeezed it, “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Lily.”
Lily shook her head, “it’s okay, I’ve accepted it.”
“Don’t tell me that asshole didn’t want to marry just because you couldn't have children,” Sirius said.
“That’s exactly why,” she drew her hand away from James’ hand, “and the ladies who used to be my friends, they wouldn’t even come near me because they thought it might be contagious.”
“Lily,” James grabbed her hand when she tried to pull it away. “Are you sure we shouldn’t go get you a doctor, if you’ve been that sick before?”
“This fever is nothing like that one.” She shrugged, embarrassed. “Anyways, that’s why I’m not married, or betrothed. No one wants a broken girl.”
“You are not broken.” Sirius tied off her braid with a ribbon. “The right man will look at you and see you as whole, and you will be perfect for him.”
Lily turned to smile sadly at Sirius. “I dream of such a man.”
James was quiet the rest of the night but he didn’t leave her side. He let her fall asleep holding his hand, and when she woke up the next morning, it was without a fever.
They went right on back to living.
~~~
James loved to spoil Lily by bringing her flowers from weird corners of the island that he'd adventure to during the day.
Her favorites were purple flowers that grew near the beach and smelled like heaven. When James found out that they were her favorite, he brought an entire bush and planted it in her garden. That was the extent of his affection for her. Lily caught him staring at her as she worked in the garden, often more than once a day.
Despite now living under her roof and having endless opportunities, he didn't try to steal any more kisses. Lily tried more than once to give him the chance, but eventually she assumed that he was no longer interested.
The boys and Lily slept in the loft together. She was normally between them, tucked into one boy or the other. Sirius’ wound was still healing, so he often slept without a blanket. James would give Lily most of the blanket, but he always stole it in the middle of the night.
Eventually, she started sleeping closer to James just to place her cold feet under the blanket he always stole. Every morning, when she woke up, he had his back to her. Time had clearly worn away his attraction to her and now, they were two ships passing through the night.
They slipped into a way of living together that made it seem like the boys had always been there. Lily even forgot their pirating, until one night when they were all at the table eating and they heard cannons in the distance. Lily froze in her seat, it was Sirius who went running out the door.
He came back in, face white as a sheet. “It’s one of Riddle’s ships”
James jumped up, grabbed Lily’s hand and ordered, “grab anything valuable, Sirius.”
Lily looked between her boys, worried. “What’s happening?”
“We’re going into the middle of the island.” James said as he tugged her into his side like he wasn’t ever going to let go of her again, “we’ll be safer in the trees.”
Sirius had his nose up like a dog that smelled trouble. “You go ahead with Lily, James.”
“Sirius—“
“Get her to safety,” Sirius ordered James. “I’ll be right behind you, I’m just going to grab things we might need.”
James and Sirius shared a silent look. James nodded curtly at Sirius before he looked down at her. Lily had one hand gripping his shirt, as worry flooded her ribs.
“Come on,” he said, “they won’t go into the trees.”
James ran her out the back door. Her shoes, the only pair she owned, hit the ground with loud thumps. James kept her at a steady jog until they’d made it into a dense tree line. He pulled her to a stop and grabbed her face when he saw her crying.
“It’s okay,” he promised, “this is just a precaution, it’s to keep you safe.”
“But my shop,” she said, “what if they burn it?”
“As long as you aren’t there...as long as we’re not there...it’s safe.”
“James,” her lip wobbled. “I’m scared.”
James sighed and pulled her into a hug. “I won’t let Riddle take anything from me, ever again, and that includes you.”
She breathed into his chest, “but Sirius is still-”
“Sirius is going to meet us.” James nudged her face up so she looked at him, “but we have to keep going, this isn’t a safe spot to stop for long.”
Lily nodded and let him lead her through the thicket of trees until they turned into a jungle. Monkeys jumped over their heads as James helped her through dense undergrowth and over large boulders. After what seemed like forever, he finally stopped.
“Where are we?” she asked, “in the middle of the island?”
“About a quarter way to the middle,” James said, “at least, according to my maps.”
“You’ve been mapping it?” Lily asked as he set her on a rock to rest her feet.
James nodded as he sat down on a rock next to her. “What do you think I’m normally doing all day?”
She shrugged sheepishly. “Sleeping on the beach?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, that’s Sirius.”
“Okay, but why are you mapping the island?”
“Riddle.” James leaned back on his rock, letting sunlight flood his face. “I think this is the island he hides his treasure on.”
“Why?” Lily put her hands in her lap and waited patiently for James to answer.
“I have been tracking Riddle since the day he took my family from me.” James said, still looking up at the sun. “Everytime he takes a ship, he stops at one of two islands. One is closer to Scotland, up north and very cold. The other is here.”
“How do you know which one has treasure?” she asked.
“I don’t.” He looked back down at her. “It’s just a theory.”
“Why do you want to find his treasure?”
James rolled up his sleeves as he stood up, “because some of it belongs to me.”
She was surprised when he held out his hand. She took it carefully, startled when he pulled her to her feet. James led her through some thicker bushes and they looked out over a pool of bright blue water.
The pool looked magical, like it went all the way to the middle of the Earth. She was in awe of the way the sunlight glittered on the smooth surface.
“Wow,” she said, “I never knew this was here.”
Beside her, James pulled off his shirt. “I found it two weeks ago.”
She watched as he dove into the blue, leaving her behind. He popped back up in the middle, pushing his wet hair from his eyes. Lily waved at him and he motioned at her to follow him in.
She was hot from their run and the water looked inviting so she peeled off her shoes and then undid her dress ties. James watched her as she slipped from the dress until she was standing there in nothing but her plain white slip.
She sat down at the edge of the pool first, dipping her toes into the cool water. James swam over and took hold of her ankles so she leaned over to splash at him.
“Get in.”
“I’m taking my time.”
James reached out to take her hand when she went to splash him again, and then pulled her in. She crashed into the crystal clear pool of water. It wasn't as deep near the edges of the pool. Rocks jutted out from the sides and she took to standing on the closest one. James swam up to her side and stood up too, pressing his body against hers.
“Now you look like a siren,” his fingers reached up to push back her red hair from her cheeks, “like you might drag me to the depths, and make me yours amongst the fish and their bones.”
Her hand lifted to his face. “But you’re already mine.”
The hazel in his eyes shifted into a smouldering look. He kissed her, his mouth firm and attentive against her own. She kissed him back, relishing in the way it felt to be back in his arms. When James pulled back, she had goosebumps on her skin.
“Do you truly care for me?” He pressed his forehead to hers, both of them soaked but not caring in the slightest.
Lily wrapped her arms around his waist. “From the moment you kissed me, I realised I would only like to know your lips for the rest of my life.”
James pressed a kiss to her forehead before he let go of her to lift himself out of the swimming hole. She followed his actions, willing to go wherever he went.
James led them back to the rocky outcropping where they dried out their clothes. She fell asleep at his side and didn’t wake up until much later, when the sun was sinking below the sky.
Sirius was there now and he’d brought a knapsack full of supplies.
The boys looked up from their conversation when she crawled over to grab an apple she spotted on the ground between them. James tossed an arm around her shoulders as she ate, tucking her into his side. If Sirius noticed anything, he didn’t say much, but Lily guessed he was worried about the other pirates.
“When can we go back?” Lily asked.
“Sirius says it's a wing ship, meaning they’re just here to meet up with Riddle’s fleet nearby.” James said, “we should be okay to go back in the morning.”
“I don’t think they’re going to come back for a while either.” Sirius said, “they were taking a lot of supplies onto their ship.”
Lily watched James’ lips thin before he said, “when we get back to town, I’ll send a letter to Albus, he’s the only one who can stop Riddle at this point.”
“Who’s Albus?” Lily asked before she took another bite of apple.
“Albus is a Lord back in Scotland.” James explained, “he was a close friend of my family and he hired me on as a spy to find Riddle.”
“That’s how James and I met,” Sirius told her, “James was on my first ship, posing as an artist looking for a new life.”
“Yeah,” James chuckled at the memory, “but Sirius recognized me from court and called my bluff.”
Sirius winked at Lily, “he wasn’t very good at lying when he first started out as a pirate.”
“I was young,” James threw a stick at Sirius, “besides, I was never a real pirate.”
“Just a pirate for hire,” Sirius scoffed, “where’s the fun in that?”
“One day,” James said, “you’ll be wishing you took Albus’ offer to join.”
“Join what?” Lily placed her apple down.
“Albus runs an underground company that helps locate and free slaves,” James crossed his legs and she leaned back onto them. “He pays people to get onto slave trade ships and start a mutiny, its what I’d be doing, if he didn’t have me on special assignment.”
“Why are you on special assignment?”
James pinched her hip, “because I have a personal reason to go after Riddle.”
Sirius pulled his knees to his chest when he said, “I can’t wait for Riddle to get what he deserves.”
“Did Riddle do something to you?” Lily asked Sirius, “besides shoot you, that is.”
“No,” Sirius said, “but he’s killed enough of my friends and sent their ships to Neptune's graveyard.”
James told her later that Sirius’ partner had been one of thousands of pirates who refused to join Riddle, and paid the price for it. Lily immediately spent extra time that night hugging Sirius.
~~~
The boys decided after that night, that they needed to teach Lily to fight with a sword. Her lessons started the next morning at the house while James ventured to the docks for information on the raid. Sirius was teaching Lily the basics of swordplay when James returned from the docks.
James had a grim look on his face as he said, "I sent out the letter to Albus.”
"Why do you look so sour?" Lily questioned, dropping the sword she'd been holding to a lower position.
James shrugged, “just tired after last night.”
She sighed and dropped the sword into the dirt completely. She walked over and took his hand, tugging on it. He looked up when she kept tugging.
“What?” he asked her, staring at her adorably.
“You’re going to go take a nap,” she ordered, “you need sleep.”
“If you’re giving up on sparing lessons,” Sirius said, “I’m heading to the pub for a pint.”
Lily nodded at Sirius, “I’ll get some dinner on the table for when you return.”
Sirius kissed her cheek and then slapped James on the back. Lily tugged at James again. This time he followed her lead into the cool shadows of their home.
She climbed into the loft first, helping him up with a careful hand when he followed. James fell into the straw pad they all slept on, not even bothering to remove the blankets. She snorted and then she fell down beside him, placing her nose at his nose. James inched his face forward and nudged her.
“What?” she whispered.
“I love you,” he whispered back.
She brushed her hand against his cheek. “I thought you weren’t supposed to form attachments.”
“I’m not.”
“What kind of pirate are you?” she teased.
“A horrible one, really,” he murmured, “since I want to give up everything to stay here, with you.”
“Then stay.”
"Sirius and I can't stay here forever, Lily."
Lily's eyes welled up at the truth behind James’ statement.
She had gotten so used to James and Sirius being around that she hadn't considered the fact that one day they'd need to leave. Sooner or later, Sirius' fireside tales would turn into the boring crackling flames of the fireplace.
One day, James' adoring looks would just be memories built up in her head like daydreams.
Lily wrapped her arms around her waist tighter, refusing to look at him for fear she might watch him leave her alone in their bed. If the thought of Sirius leaving Lily was painful, she knew all too well that the thought of James leaving would be unbearable. She'd never imagined she'd ever become so attached to a couple of dastardly men.
Lily kept her eyes shut firmly to hold back the tears threatening to spill.
"We're pirates, Lily. Pirates for hire, but pirates just the same." James muttered, "You know that."
She knew it, and it killed her.
She forced her eyes open to look up at him. His hazel eyes were glowing against the frame of the old home they’d been sharing like lovers. His skin was lighter without the constant interaction of the sun, but it was still so dark it seemed burned.
"I guess I just hoped you'd want to stay." She admitted, furrowing her brow when she saw a flash of pain across his face.
"You've no idea how much I'll miss you." He pressed his cheek against her hand. “You have no idea how much I miss you now, just thinking about going back to Albus, knowing you’d be here.”
“I would spend that whole time, loving you,” she lamented.
James planted his lips firmly against hers, giving more than she could possibly rebuke. His kiss was wild, frantic, and immodest. Habit forced her hands into his hair and soon she forgot anything else but James. Her hands had left his hair to run up and down his body greedily, desperately, as if he were already saying goodbye.
"I need you," he moaned, his hands tilted her by her cheeks.
She didn't mind, getting caught up in the moment incase it was her last. "I'm yours," she promised.
James’ shirt was quickly discarded thanks to her grabbing hands, allowing her to touch more of his burning skin.
James sucked on her bottom lip possessively, shining himself overtop of her. Lily's back was firmly pressed against the blankets below her as James' hips dipped forward and into hers. She breathed in deep at the contact, loving the feeling that shot up her spine, like liquid courage.
The humid island air felt cool with his body pressed up against hers in such a fashion. James's fingers started unlacing her dress until he pulled all the fabric over her head in one final movement. Lily helped him with her slip, shrugging out of it while they kissed eagerly in now freshly revealed skin.
He was touching her in places that she never knew could feel so nice. She wiggled tenderly under his constant affection, feeling as if she couldn’t stop moving while underneath him. James kissed along her neck, his biting kisses turning her into a mess of needy sighs. When his hips swung forward against hers again, her fingernails dug into the skin on his shoulders.
"I want to stay with you as much as I want to leave." He breathed hotly between kisses. "I want you to come with me, all so I never have to be without you."
"Then stay," she begged, earning a groan from the pirate as she ran her fingers through his hair, tickling his scalp, "stay with me."
"Temptress," he accused her before locking lips with her again, biting her lower lip insistently.
Lily preened into him, relishing the familiar way he kissed and held her. She knew this might be her last chance to take it all in, so Lily let James take as much as he wanted. She did not regret the way his hands slipped between her legs, or the moans from both their mouths that followed soon afterwards. In fact, Lily let him push her up against the blankets so roughly that their bodies almost seemed to be one.
She was sand in his hands, shifting and being moulded just the way he wanted.
"Please, stay with me," she pleaded again under his bucking form. "Please, James."
She stole James' kisses this time, placing kiss after kiss on his all-to-willing mouth. Lily was stealing as many kisses as she could from him, pushing herself against him and never waning. She was desperate, feeling his will break down like crumbling dust as she lavished him. H
er hands gripped his cotton slacks tightly, shoving them down his hips. He helped her wiggle them off, the look in his eyes akin to desperation. Her legs fell open and he slid between them, settling into her.
"Don't make me choose." He was begging now, hands tight around her waist as she pushed herself up against him in a way that was pensively placed, until she felt his body touching hers in a way she's only dreamed of.
She drew him back down into her. "You can have both. Adventure and a wife..."
"But what if I can't have both?"
"You can," her head fell back as he met her like waves on the shore, rocking with forward momentum. "Gods, you can have me whenever you want."
He tucked her hair behind her ear as she spread her legs farther. "Lily, your father would never approve."
"I love you." Lily placed her hand on his cheek and glared, "love should be enough for my father."
"And if it's not?" James whispered worriedly.
"Then I'll sail away with you."
"And for now?"
"You can keep stealing my kisses." Lily kissed him deeply again, getting lost in the push and pull of his core perched between hers.
James finally pressed into her in a purposefully eager move that had them both gasping, foreheads crashing together. When he started moving more swiftly, Lily's lips fell to his shoulder so that she could breath through the motions that were as natural as anything.
Lily considered telling James that she'd follow him to the ends of the earth if she had too, but for now she continued letting him think he was stealing her time, her love and her kisses.
The truth was, nothing could be stolen if it was willingly given, and Lily had willingly given herself to James the moment he'd 'stolen' their first kiss.
I live in the northwest coast of Canada so we walk everywhere and do stuff outside in the rain and swim in whatever lakes and rivers we find so imagine my smug sense of Canadian superiority when I met a USAmerican Midwesterner who was horrified at the very thought
What I mean to say is that it's very easy to delude yourself into believing you are more in tune with your environment when your environment is not actively hostile to your existence in every conceivable way
Rains frequently, but the worst is like standing under a bathroom shower. Genuinely inhospitable rainstorms are uncommon.
Along the coast, it's pretty easy in most areas to walk to at least one store, or else there's usually a bus or shuttle available. There are sidewalks and bike lanes everywhere.
It's a temperate boreal rainforest, so while there are many freshwater lakes and rivers, they're usually pretty cold. The biggest danger is typically getting caught in a strong current, and the most dangerous animals in swimming distance are on land.
Earthquakes happen almost every day, but the vast majority go unnoticed. Buildings are designed to withstand bigger seismic activity, so unless it's a 5 or higher it just kind of feels like having low blood sugar for a second. There are no tornados
Rural Illinois, USA:
One minute it's sunny, then ten minutes later that distant smudge on the horizon has swallowed the entire sky in black clouds and the water is coming down like waterfall and you literally CANNOT SEE. Then there's a crash like cymbals and you need to get indoors because the thunder and lightening are on TOP of you
No sidewalks until you are in the smack dab center of town, which is a three hour walk or twenty minute drive from wherever you are.
There aren't many natural bodies of water other than small ponds and creeks, and because the environment is so much warmer, those are filled with snapping turtles that can grow bigger than a nine year old child and water snakes that are incredibly venomous. These are paired with leeches and mosquitos for that sweet umami flavor.
Sometimes Jupiter, Lord of the Heavens decides to jam his finger into the side of your house just to fuck with your whole shit and throws your truck a thousand yards into the nearest church
So as someone who lives in southern Indiana and just got back from Vancouver. Yes. Yes to all of this - our worst weather day was a constant rain. Cool because we were on a mountain but soft and easy. Didn’t disrupt our day at all. Lovely - not too hot or cold - gorgeous and we walked and hiked and never worried.
Fast forward to now. Melting in 95+ with heat index of don’t go outside fool. Trying to keep my house close to 80 - weather app says feels like a sauna. Tree in the backyard in down from the storms we got o we the weekend which blew in from nowhere and the fields are flooded. Hurrah Midwest - why did the Germans think this was the place to be?
I know I should use my social platform (my 3 followers on tumblr) to tell everyone what is happening in Venezuela, but I feel so overwhelmed already that maybe, just maybe, can I have a place that is not filled with "the government is letting people die" as a treat?
Nope. Not really (Promise I won't become too annoying).
I can talk about all the shitty things that the government is doing. And about all the crappy things that I see trying to stay informed but, instead I'm asking if you can to donate, and if you can not donate to spread the world.
Caracas Chronicles has news in English in case you want more information and their first page is about donations to the organisations that are helping.
Making Venezuela make sense, fifteen years and counting.
Even the smallest contribution can help, even if it's just letting other people know about the links to donate in the far chance that they can.
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no character or plotline will ever fully explore an issue from every point of view, and that's okay. art can and should be a starting point for a discussion rather than seen as a 'one size fits all'. each and every person who experiences a story will see it in a different way, will pick up on things that someone else didn't, and might find a viewpoint that speaks specifically to them that even the creator themselves didn't intend.
art is a conversation, not a textbook. it is not supposed to tell you a fact, but rather show you an inkblot test and ask what you see.
I thought about just tagging this 'nuff said, but it's not.
I want to say something to all of the women under 50 on this site. Ready?
You do not have to be over 50 to start taking up space.
Can I make that blink? Is that a thing Tumblr can do? Because, seriously. The sooner you believe you are allowed to take up space, the better life will be.
