#tlat

this is a jily fic (obviously) starting from the beginning of sixth year to november of seventh year. is it unfinished? yes. is it over 600k words? also yes. but in my opinion it’s worth it. james and sirius’ relationship make me awfully jealous, the marauders are larger than life and peter is more than a will-be-evil cheerleader. intergration of barely mentioned canon characters is skilfully done, the ensemble is massive and yet no one is sidelined

the dialogue is fantastic, almost reminding me of gilmore girls, james and lily have this natural progression into enemies then associates then friends that makes it realistic for a pair of awfully dramatic teens in an awfully dramatic period (in the midst of a bloody war!)

lily’s relationship with snape and her sister is given a layer of depth that is more than snape + petunia=bad, and the original characters have a strong sense of self and purpose that isn’t only to drive the romance.

i’d say read tlat if you’re a fan of witty sarcastic jily, the best characterisation of james ever, a unique outlook on the famed ‘prank’, and a couple of good mysteries and wizarding activism.

if the fact that it’s unfinished puts you off, tlat ends like you knew it was coming, almost, so while the ache was there, i felt gladder that i had read it in the first place, rather than unfulfilled.

as my favourite fic ever, this gets full scores

"Hey, Snaps," said a new voice, and Potter appeared with it. He grinned cheerfully at her, as though they were the best of friends. "Had a good day, did you?" "I'm not going to ask," said Lily coldly. "Sorry, Potter, you lose, because I don't care what your stupid little nickname means." She really tried to mean it. "Are you sure, Snaps?" "Yes." "Because you say I just lost, but it feels an awful lot like winning. Especially since you asked Sirius to tell you what it meant." Lily scowled at Black. "You said you wouldn't tell." "I said I'd think about it," replied Sirius defensively. "And it's a force of habit telling James everything... it just sort of slipped out. He looked so joyful when I told him... like a little tyke at Christmas."

JANE FOSTER  |  THE MIGHTY THOR