Tracing Ink

Azure water lapped against the yacht’s white hull as James lazily sipped chilled white wine, watching Lily read a book at the bow. The Greek sun painted her red hair in copper hues, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“You’re staring at me again,” she laughed, not looking up from the pages.

James smirked, swirling the wine in his glass.

“Can you blame me? You’re the most beautiful thing in the world, and I’ve seen Santorini at sunset.”

Lily rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward. She turned a page slowly, pretending to focus.

“You said the same thing about the grilled octopus last night.”

“True,” he admitted. “But you still more beautiful than octopus”

She laughed, soft and bright, the kind of sound that made James feel like the sky had cracked open just to let in more light.

“Remind me to push you overboard later.”

He stood, walked over, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“Just don’t do it before dinner. I made reservations on shore.”

Lily arched an eyebrow. “You planned something?”

James grinned. “A taverna by the cliffs. Wine, sunset, and no octopus this time. Just us.”

when it comes to fic comments:

do this ^^^ not that ^^^^

i received both of these over the weekend by first time commenters on my most popular (and personally beloved) wip that is currently in the throes of a year long hiatus. i won’t get into the in-depth reasons as to why its been on hold because im not asking for pity or sympathy or whatever (the ao3 curse is real) but i am posting this because one of these comments made me want to immediately pick up my drafted chapter 20 and finish it. while the other one made me want to bury my draft in my google drive and never look at it again.

this is a familiar tale, right?? lots of fic writers have exhausted the topic of super motivating and less than motivating types of comments. but i just wanted to add context to why.

first of all, because this is my first impression of both of these readers. one is fresh and exiting and positive! the other is completely disheartening, but why?? because if we infer through the subtext of the second comment that this person is supposedly a long time reader, this is the first time they’ve chosen to interact with me. at all. so my gut reaction is “wtf, i don’t know you, what makes you think you can talk to me like this or that you are entitled to that type of information if you’ve never felt the need to tell me you liked my fic before this??”

not a great feeling tbh! to immediately dislike someone upon first impression? i kinda wanted to block them so they’d never get to read the rest when i do end up finishing the story. because i WILL finish it someday.

but SECONDLY, and this is the part that made me want to put the next chapter away forever, the blunt question of “WHY ARENT YOU POSTING 🤬” literally has the direct response of me reflecting on the shitstorm of a year i’ve had and the four addresses in twelve months, and the fights with my partner that never seem to get resolved, and my daughters health issues and her two hospital stays, and my own career upheaval and how i’m still not really in a job i truly love or feel invested in, and just SHIT!! you know?? sometimes life is shit and hobbies get put on the back burner. i don’t know how else to say this but if you are wanting an update to your favorite fic, be kind!? you don’t know what’s going on in a persons internal life so why wouldn’t you choose to be nice??

no one loves the path from you more than i do, or wants me to finish it mORE THAN I DO!!! you should assume this of every fic writer! those stories mean more to them than any reader or beta. i promise you. and having to reflect on all the conscious and subconscious reasons why i haven’t been able to work on it just makes me more disappointed in myself, which makes me not want to work on it more… and the vicious cycle continues.

so, in conclusion, that second comment up there is not something i would ever expect a person to say in such words or tone if they stopped me on the street so it should never show up in my email either.

Thank you so much for this prompt, because it gave me the perfect idea for my last entry to Shirtless JP May 😭😭

Two drabbles in a day? Feeling quite proud. Also, this is an AU drabble after the longest time! 💙

Heat of You

“Lily! You made it!”

A smile spills over her face, large and bright, as she steps forward to offer Remus a hug. Overhead, the June sun blazes mercilessly down on her neck, sweat sprinkling generously over nape and brows and upper lip.

“Hey!” she greets, wiping away some moisture from her face, sensitive skin already reddening, no doubt a prelude to all the freckles she’ll be welcoming soon. “‘Course I did. Only an idiot would refuse a pool party in this weather.”

“Face it: you were bullied into coming.”

“Yeah alright, who am I kidding?” She rolls her eyes, stepping inside as Remus holds the door open, always a gentleman. The house, as grand from the inside as it had seemed from its exterior, sends a mixed bout of nerves and envy fluttering in her belly. “Is everyone already here?”

“Oh yeah, the pool’s in the backyard,” Remus says around a bar of half-melted chocolate. “Why don’t you go join them? I’ll fetch some cold beer from the kitchen.”

“Um, where is…?”

“Oh, just go on straight and take a left,” he replies, voice already fading as he disappears off to where she can only assume is the kitchen. “You can’t miss Sirius blaring his playlist.”

With a nod to the empty air, she meanders along the dictated path, eyes frequently catching onto photographs of a bespectacled little boy with glasses too big for his face and eyes too mischievous for his age, and proceeds to watch him get older as she progresses. The soft boyishness of his features eventually disappears, replaced by sharp lines, a bright smile, glasses that fit better. The hazel eyes though—they remain the same; equally as playful at seventeen as they were at five. In some of these frames, he’s accompanied by his parents, who seem a good deal older than her own parents, but adoration for their son shines so loud and clear in their expressions, even in the stillness, that they’re instantly made younger by it.

“Evans!” cries a familiar voice, and she squawks outrageously in surprise, jumping a foot in the air. Hand to chest, she whips around to find Sirius Black standing at the end of the hall, the door to the backyard open behind him. He smirks, thoroughly entertained, and nods towards the photographs. “Why stare at the frozen copies when you can enjoy looking at the real thing?”

“It’s nothing of that sort,” she hisses, glad that the burning of her cheeks can be attributed to the cruelly hot sun, and walks over to him. Sirius easily turns around, leading her out to the party. “I was just curious. Had to check whether James always had such a big head or whether it was acquired with age.”

“You say that as if you haven’t known me since eleven.”

The unbelievably loud thud of her heart is accompanied by a traitorous grin that pulls on her lips at the sound of that voice. She bites her cheek, manages to look politely pleased instead of madly thrilled. “Well, therein lies my problem, Potter. Your head has always looked big to me.”

“Is that right?” he hums, and it’s all the warning she receives before he’s right in front of her, body clad in nothing but summer-blue swimming trunks, skin glistening with sweat over a delicious tan. He holds a can of beer in one hand, the other rising to his head, feeling around stupidly as he looks straight at Sirius. “What d’you think, Padfoot? Is my head too big?”

“No, you’re perfect.” Sirius chuckles.

“See, Evans? I don’t—” he suddenly stops, and she watches the muscles of his chest expand with the breath he pulls in. “Excuse me, my eyes are up here, you pervert.”

“Pathetic?” James scoffed, “You are the one that saw me with this pin and immediately went to it had to be a joke. Isn’t it pathetic of you to be so narrow minded?”

“Narrow-minded?!” Lily narrowed her eyes in outrage. “It’s narrow-minded to think that the detention king would be an unfit person to be in charge of the entire student body?!”

“King huh?”

“OH MY GOD!” Lily threw back her head as she rolled her eyes. “How do you live with yourself?!”

——-Way Down We Go: Chapter Two: Therefore I Am————

When Lily jokingly tells her owl to deliver a letter to "the love of her life", i.e. Marlene McKinnon, her owl misinterprets the directive and, to her horror, her ode to James Potter’s arms lands squarely in his lap.

Lily Evans has been the star Chaser of the Holyhead Harpies for the past six seasons. Her career speaks for itself, an abundance of accolades proving her commitment to the game of Quidditch. The next challenge of her career? Chasing for England's World Cup team.

But it's not the spotlight or the pressure that challenges her the most, but the insufferable James Potter who she is forced to play alongside come hell or high water (or, as it turns out, infuriating attraction).

Chicken of the Woods

Lily goes foraging. James tags along. That's the official version of events, anyway. (James brought himself along, because he’s impossible and obnoxious and when he found her skirting the edges of the forest that morning, he scoffed: “The good stuff is inside the forest, Evans. Everyone knows that.” She still wouldn’t have followed him in, though, if not for his next words. “Cowards miss all the best cauldron fires,” he said, striding into the thick brush with all the confidence in the world, and well. Lily is a lot of things, but a coward has never been one of them).