#pottingfics

Got stuck on the roof putting up Christmas lights AU from this list. I really should write some Jily drabbles with actual Jily happening in them sometime. Naming sense still needs an improvement.

James Potter sat on a roof on a frosty Saturday morning, measuring the gutter with his thumb and pinkie. Wiping his hand on his grimy tracksuit bottoms, he pulled out another meter of Christmas lights. He ripped yet another piece of tape with his teeth as he draped the cord over the wall. Securing them tightly, he exhaled.

Kneeling back, James admired his handiwork. He’d been out here a good hour at least, and he’d gotten around a good third of the roof already. He’d be finished with the framework by the time Sirius gets home from work, when he can kill the git for taking both the spare keys from under the doormat and the Drunk Garden Gnome.

James cracked his neck, once on each side, and rolled his shoulders back. He turned to grab his next handful of lights when…

CRASH!

His arm collided with the ladder propped up against the wall, and it fell to the ground before he could catch it. He looked around himself, down at it, and swore. It was a quiet, icy December morning, and no one was out for him to call to for help.

James sighed. Laying himself flat against the tiles, he looked over the gutter, where a window ledge stuck out unpromisingly. Maybe, just maybe, if he could get himself down to there…

-

Lily Evans hugged her wooly jumper closer as she trudged out the front door, shivering. If she could just find where the damned newspaper guy had flung the paper today, she could get back inside to her waiting mug…

Hearing a gasp, Lily looked up and screamed.

“SORRY! Sorry!”

A boy, roughly her age, swung dangerously upside-down from her grandmother’s roof, eyes wide in panic. Grasping the gutter with both hands, he stabilized himself. He looked down at her.

“Um,” he said.

“Um,” she agreed.

He pulled himself back onto the roof, exhaling a puff of white mist. He rubbed his palms on his ratty joggers and bit his lip.

“Hi. I’m James. I live next door.”

“Lily. Prudence’s granddaughter.” She frowned, eyeing the neatly-kept house over the fence.

“You’re Grandma Prue’s-”

“Grandma Prue?”

“Right.” James smiled. “Sorry. We kind of adopted her.”

Oh. Nan had been telling Lily over the phone the past few weeks about how some nice boys had moved in nearby, and that she really ought to meet them. They came over often to mow her lawn or to clean her windows, apparently, and apart from their angry taste in music, they seemed to be stellar neighbors in Nan’s view. And they’re so handsome, Nan had gushed, earning a roll of eyes from Lily. You’re lucky I met them after I married your Pop.

The last nice boy Nan had had Lily meet had been some kid from church, three years her junior and reeking of pineapples.

Lily squinted back up at the guy, the one that wasn’t the serious one or something. His jet black hair was tousled maniacally, and the cold winter air had tinted his nose an alarming shade of red. Nan wasn’t wrong. He was pretty hot, if a little unconventionally. She’d bet he was tall, too, though with him trespassing onto her grandmother’s roof, it was kind of hard to tell. His deep hazel eyes stared into hers, unblinking, observing.

After a moment, Lily raised an eyebrow.

“Um,” she said, “so what’s got you hanging upside down from someone else’s house on a freezing Saturday morning?”

James blinked. “I went and got myself locked out of my house, so I thought I’d get started on Gr- er, Prudence’s Christmas lights.”

“I can share, you know,” Lily smirked.

“Sorry?”

“I’m willing to share Nan.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

James’s gaze shifted from her face, and she watched as his eyes widened. Lily looked down too, at the red jumper Nan knitted her this year.

She looked up to find that James was sporting an identical one, except in blue.

“She said her granddaughter was in need of a sweetheart,” he said faintly.

Of course. She should expect nothing less from Nan Evans. “At least you smell alright,” Lily muttered with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah,” James agreed, then frowned. “What?”

“Nothing.” Lily shook her head.

Lily turned away and, spotting the newspaper in the flowerbed at her feet, she bent to pick it up. Dusting it off, she lifted her face again.

“Well. It was nice to meet you.” She gave him a polite smile and turned to walk back inside.

“WAIT!”

Lily turned back.

“I almost forgot, I kind of can’t get down,” James explained apologetically, pointing to the ground, where Pop’s old ladder lay.

“You really know your way around, don’t you?”

“She is the best cook I know, so, you know. I come to earn some cookies from time to time.”

Lily lifted the ladder with both hands and leaned it against the wall. James grinned in thanks and swung his legs over the edge of the roof. He quickly climbed down as Lily held it steady. A light brush of his fingertips on the back of her hand as he reached the bottom made her stomach flutter, but she stubbornly pretended not to notice.

James landed lightly on the ground. “Thanks,” he whispered solemnly, shivering slightly. He pulled his hands into his oversized sleeves.

“No problem.” Letting go of the ladder, Lily looked him over. “You look kind of cold. Care for a hot chocolate?”

James’s face broke out in a wide grin. “That would be great.”

-

Prudence Evans sat by the open window, cocooned in quilted blankets. Her breaths came out white as she stifled a victorious giggle.

Who made the first move; 

Draco. Like:

H: WELL IF YOU HATE ME SO MUCH, WHY DON'T YOU-

D: I DON'T HATE YOU. I LIKE-" shit "L-LOATHE YOU, YOU FILTHY-"

H: what

D: what

H: WHAT

D leaves without a word, but awww he's blushing so much his face is like 10 shades darker than his hair and he looks like a bona fide tomato the cutie

Who said ‘I love you’ first; 

Hermione. Draco thinks he's a monster after the war because of the whole, ahem, dark mark thing, and so hermione just tells him that she loves him so he should snap the hell out of it

How often they fight; 

All. The. Time. And neither give in, they just forget about it.

Who’s the big spoon/little spoon; 

I can imagine Hermione being a clingy big spoon when she's asleep, and it annoys Draco but at the same time he thinks it's really REALLY cute

What their nicknames are for each other; 

I feel like they'd just call each other by their given names.

Who’s the better cook; 

Hermione. The privileged little pureblood probably doesn't know how food is prepared haha

Who remembers their anniversaries; 

Draco, CUE BOUQUETS OF RED ROSES HEHEHEH

Their favorite thing to do together (besides sex); 

Arguing. Cute arguing.

Who ‘wears the pants’ in the relationship; 

Draco. Hermione. It depends.

How they would get engaged;

Again, red roses. Candles. Draco is a romantic. Maybe he nearly sets the house on fire and Hermione has to save the house.

What their wedding would be like;

Things are really tense at first bc MALFOYS AND DA CREW IN THE SAME PLACE?!?!?!??!!!??!?!??? but then i think they'd all get along in the end. (I'm kind of imagining Lucius as dead already)

How many kids they’ll have; 

A boy and a girl, yes? yes.

Who made the first move; 

I think it was Lily in the end, like she figured out that she likes James back but he won’t do anything so she just pulls his neck down one day and holy merlin they’re kissing

Who said ‘I love you’ first; 

James. It kind of just slipped out one day when they were snogging, and there was this awkward pause where he’s about go just kidding and laugh and go off and cry and feel sorry for himself, but Lily smiles slowly and whispers back,

"I love you too."

How often they fight; 

Only sometimes, but when they did it was followed by sexy times wink wink so it was okay

Who’s the big spoon/little spoon; 

James is, usually, but sometimes he comes back from Order missions all hurt and tired and slips into bed next to a sleeping lily, who slips an arm around him and he just smiles

What their nicknames are for each other; 

Potter and Ev-no, Potter.

"You can stop looking so happy now, we’ve been over this at least a hundred times."

Who’s the better cook; 

I think Lily, but James has a few staples that he likes to cook sometimes.

Their song; 

Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners

“Come on Eileen LilyOh, I swear what he means (what he means)At this moment you mean everythingYou in that dressMy thoughts I confessVerge on dirtyOh, come on Eileen Lily”

Who remembers their anniversaries; 

Both of them ohoho

Their favorite thing to do together (besides sex); 

Dance around the house with Harry. Come on, they did it.

Who ‘wears the pants’ in the relationship; 

Both???

How they would get engaged;

James planned everything out and was all set to propose, but then one day, in bed in the morning, james just smiles at her and goes let’s get married. She says yes and wait are we engaged????? 

What their wedding would be like;

Small but tastefully done, with their closest friends and family.

How many kids they’ll have; 

Three ish. Or they’d plan for three but then number four kind of just happens because you know them.

Has nothing to do with wrong suitcases anymore. If anyone has any title suggestions...

Part 1, Part 2

It’s been four days. Four days without any contact, and Lily Evans was going insane.

Was it too soon to call? Lily had conveniently lost her phone for the past three days, but when she found it again, she saw that he had only asked her how her day had been once. She’d replied at once though far too late, and he hadn’t sent anything back.

A click, a slide, and a couple of taps would be all it took to hear his voice again… if he picked up, that is. Unlikely, since it seemed like she’d managed to scare him off. Was it the Wiccan job? The t-shirt-keeping? Her face?

One moment she was walking down the street, glaring at her blank iPhone screen, the next… she was on the ground.

Lily, James and Sirius, Remus

“I am Severus Snape, and I have been nominated for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by James Potter and Sirius Black.”

He pauses for a few seconds, glaring at the camera.

“The rule appears to be to throw a bucket of ice water over myself, or donate $100 to the charity.”

Mulciber turns the camera to the laptop that sits open in front of them. alsa.org/donate is open, and under Select Gift Amount, with a dead face, Snape types $100 in slow, deliberate taps. His fingers hover over the keyboard for a second, before moving to Backspace. He re-types $500, before scrolling to the bottom and clicking Complete Donation.

Snape turns back to the camera, his slick hair illuminated by the screen behind him.

“Thank you for the challenge, and I nominate Mulciber, Avery and Lucius Malfoy to actually make a difference.”

Lily, Severus, Remus

“So I’m James,”

“I’m Sirius,”

“and we’re doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.”

Lily raises an eyebrow at Remus. “How many times did they have to practice before they got the timing right?” She whispers.

Remus shakes his head. “They didn’t.”

“Thank you, Lils, for the nomination.” James winks at her, who blows him a kiss back. Peter mimes a retch.

“We’ll be nominating Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, and our good friend Snape. You have twenty four hours, or you donate $100. Or both.” Sirius grins at the camera, throwing his hair back.

With that, James and Sirius each takes a bucket of ice-water from in front of them, and Lily’s gaze wanders for a second too long on the tensed muscles of her boyfriend’s arms. Feeling her cheeks redden, she lifts her gaze.

With a nod, the two throw the water over each other’s heads, splashing everyone surrounding them in the process. Lily squeals and jumps back, but is too slow for James; despite her laughing protests, he wraps his arms around her and plants a wet kiss on her glowing cheek.

Remus chuckles to himself, holding his phone up to the scene in front of him. He looks into the screen, and his eyes widen.

“Shit.”

James and Sirius,  Severus, Remus

“Hi, I’m Lily, and here’s me doing the ALS ice bucket challenge! As well as filming this, I’ll be donating $50 to the charity.”

Lily Evans grins at the camera, adjusting her loose white t-shirt by the hem.

“Thanks, Mary, for the challenge, and I’ll be nominating Marlene McKinnon, James Potter, and Sirius Black.”

“Oi!” Sirius protests, lowering his iPhone, before Remus quickly pulls his arm back up. Lily throws him a wink.

With a heave, Peter and James lift the large container of ice water, and shuffles up behind the tensing girl. One, two, three, they mouth, before the contents are tipped over her head.

With a squeal, Lily jumps up. She flicks her dripping red hair back, laughing, and James is struck by how cute she looks, right there, with her gleaming grin and wet lashes and the tempting cling of her now see-through shir-

A poem for Jily Week 2 Day 2 - Seasons of the Year