swishy, made of willow

hana. she/her. mostly jily. AO3

[cascader]

Unique Results for Gingers (Jily)

Summary: Sleekeazy’s warns of “unique results for gingers.” There’s a chance Lily didn’t read the label. 

She massages the potion in slowly, fingers working in goosebump-inducing figure-eights against her scalp, just like how Annabeth from Ravenclaw had recommended.

Her fingers starts to freeze up after about a minute, so she straightens, reaches to flip her hair over one shoulder, and —

Screams. She screams. 

“Oh my god,” says Mary, agape at the other sink. Her mouth works uselessly for a few more seconds as she points, shakily and seemingly unconsciously, at Lily’s reflection. The gesture, as Lily would later recall, looks straight from the mind of Edvard Munch, and it’d be the most comical thing in the room, if not for… well. 

Read it on AO3!

shout-out to the hp wiki for inspiring this and @majormaybe1​ for test reading and hyping me up!

[latenighton]

you wouldn’t have lasted an hour in the asylum where they raised me

[apalapucian-deactivated20240620]

For the (eventual) jily drabble

I got a soft spot for the prefect's bathroom! So if this inspire you...

hi hi hi it's finally done! well, part one is finally done lol. here it is; it's called bad day wall. or: in sixth year, lily starts writing to a stranger through a wall(?) in the prefects' bathroom. in the same year, she also somehow becomes friends with james potter. these two things are completely no doubt no question no contest 200% unrelated.

snippet here, here, and below (slightly edited for the sake of context). the prompt's not in any of these snippets, but i swear the it's in the fic! and, well, it's no longer a drabble :')

thank you, zin, and i hope you like it <3

— 

"i need a job. like, this summer," says lily. "my inheritance money's running out — it wasn't much to begin with, tuney got most of it — and if i don't work in the next summers basically i'd be penniless by the time we graduate. and — god, can you imagine? a penniless, muggleborn, radical witch, in today's economy?"

"and today's political climate," sirius adds. "yeah, no shit. you'd probably be dead by twenty-one."

"wow. thanks, sirius."

"well, i'm just saying," he says. "let's not make it happen."

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

read on ao3

[sunriseinorbit]

mom said it's my turn on the hyperspecific poll

i wrote fanfic for a video game i have never played

i was in more than one music extracurricular at the same time in school

i have seen my favorite artist in concert in 2 different countries

my birthday is exactly one day after a fictional character i love

i was/am a college tour guide

i was part of a best friend trio where the other two people had the same name

i am both the oldest and tallest sibling

i am distantly related to a famous classical composer

my first ever concert was miku expo

i have seen a movie at a theater with someone i met on tumblr

more than one of these

none of these

Voting ended onFeb 13, 2024

[cascader]

ten years later

for @jilymicrofics january day 2 prompt “grow”

“Maybe you’ve grown out of it,” Mary offers.

Lily sighs openly into the phone. “It wasn’t all me, Mary. In fact—”

“Maybe you both have, is what I meant, dear,” she clarifies. “We both know this is too good to pass up.”

She’s right: an A24 movie with a smart, grounded script and a female lead who isn’t the stoic asshole role she’s been pigeonholed into? It’s everything she’s had Mary looking out for all these years.

If only the male lead role hadn’t just gone to James Potter.

Maybe Mary’s right. It’s been ten years since their breakout role together and the infamous, nauseating, exhausting feud that accompanied it.

She can do this. They’ll have grown. Or at least she has.

Right?

[annasghosts]

I haven't written a microfic in a while, but I had an idea.... 👀 for @jilymicrofics with the prompt: fresh

Secret and lies

“Lily-”

“I’m fine.” She says, taking her time placing the coat on the couch. She smooths the wrinkles, proud to hear her voice not wavering, her tone detached enough that, if she doesn’t turn around, her friend might believe her.

“You’re not fine.”

“Why not, Mary?” The words come out strangled this time and Lily swallows. Don’t cry, don’t cry.

“Because you were supposed to get married yesterday and James didn’t show up.”

She laughs at that, at the absurdity of the situation, at the pain that hits her again, that takes the air from her lungs, and she can’t stop the tears this time. She raises her fingers to wipe at her cheeks, hating herself for her weakness, but the wound is still too fresh to bring herself under control.

James. His loud laugh, his strong arms that used to hold her so tight, that made her feels so safe, so loved, so at peace. Those memories are painful now that she has to face the truth, to accept that he doesn’t love her, that he probably never did or that he changed his mind, regretted asking her to marry him and didn’t even have the guts to face her.

A hand brushes her shoulder and Lily flinches. “Look, you don’t have to come today.”

“Why not?” She asks, turning around, her eyes burning. “I’m a member of the Order as much as he is.”

“I know, but no one would judge you if you needed-”

“I don’t.” She cuts her off. “If he doesn’t want to see me, he can stay at home.”

Mary doesn’t seem to have an answer for that and they stand there, awkwardly, until Lily can’t take it anymore and moves towards the kitchen. It feels weird to be back here, in the apartment she used to share with her friend, when she had all those projects with him, a life already planned. But it’s pointless to hold onto dreams. If he forgot about her so easily she will learn to do the same.

***

The pity is the worst part. She can handle the surprise, she can even take pride in it. It strokes her ego to know that they didn’t expect her to come, but she won’t let them feel sorry for her.

They sit down and she can’t help it, she looks across the room, unsure of what to feel when she spots the empty chair next to Sirius. She tries not to look at the other empty chair, the one that used to belong to her, but fails. Her hands start shaking and she’s about to get up because she can’t do this when she hears the door in the back swing open and freezes in her seat.

She knows it’s him. She memorized the sound of his steps long ago. She has loved that sound, cherished it, just as she’s loved him. She hears him faltering and that feels good, but then he moves forward, drags the chair back and now she knows he’s sitting there.

Staring ahead doesn’t help. She’s confused, angry, so much that she can’t make sense of Moody’s words and that only angers her more because her life is on the line and she can’t even pay attention, but then a thought overtakes her and she can’t push it back, can’t fight it, can’t avoid it. I’m not a coward. She knows it’s true. She’s never backed down from a challenge, not with Petunia, not with Severus, not with the people who look down on her for being Muggleborn. She closes her eyes for a moment and then, when she knows she won’t crumble, she looks up. He’s focused on Moody and she observes him, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, the way he’s pressing his lips together, but then he suddenly turns, as if he felt her eyes on him. There’s anguish there, grief, but she looks away.

She won’t be fooled this time, not by James Potter.

[cascader]

ten years later

for @jilymicrofics january day 2 prompt “grow”

“Maybe you’ve grown out of it,” Mary offers.

Lily sighs openly into the phone. “It wasn’t all me, Mary. In fact—”

“Maybe you both have, is what I meant, dear,” she clarifies. “We both know this is too good to pass up.”

She’s right: an A24 movie with a smart, grounded script and a female lead who isn’t the stoic asshole role she’s been pigeonholed into? It’s everything she’s had Mary looking out for all these years.

If only the male lead role hadn’t just gone to James Potter.

Maybe Mary’s right. It’s been ten years since their breakout role together and the infamous, nauseating, exhausting feud that accompanied it.

She can do this. They’ll have grown. Or at least she has.

Right?

[emeralddoeadeer]

Jily fics!

When a bunch of your favourites come together (sorry) for a festive gift exchange, what a way to end/start a year!

I have read more jily in the past few days than I have in the past few months.

Something for everyone 💕

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Massive thanks to @thegobletofweasleys for organising <3

[nodirectionhome-ao3-deactivated]

Fireworks and Flowers

Written for @jilymicrofics January, Day 1: Blossom 530 Words Read below or on AO3.

James found his wife in the front garden, sitting comfortably on the bottom step. Her eyes were closed, head tilted skyward as a soft rain pattered down in a melodic hum. He smiled at the sight, a bubble of warmth swelling within him that he was sure had little to do with the late summer heat. 

“You’re up early.”

Her eyes flew open—bright and green and beautiful as ever—and a cascade of fireworks lit up inside James at the way they softened when they met his. He didn’t think he’d ever get over it—the way she looked at him. The way she still looked at him. It was a special sort of magic. Sacred, like a shrine. Warm, like an earthy fire. More potent and powerful than any charm a wand could conjure.

She smiled at him, tired but happy (having a newborn in the house—awe-inspiring as it no doubt was—was also rather exhausting, as it turned out), and the fireworks burst forth anew.

“The rain woke me,” she said. 

She was sitting right in the midst of it, unflinching as the water splashed down upon her. James frowned.

“You’ll catch a cold, sitting out here in it.”

“It’s August, James.”

“Ah. Right. Silly me, then.”

Lily laughed—gentle and low—and tilted her head back again, basking in the water. “Lovely, isn’t it?”

“If you don’t wear glasses, perhaps,” James answered, squinting a little through the fog that was rapidly clouding his vision with each droplet that streaked down across the lenses of his specs.

She laughed again. “C’mere.”

He sat beside her, their shoulders brushing together, and felt her draw her wand, voice low when it muttered the Impervius Charm.

His vision cleared up—and what a vision it was—Lily sliding back into focus beside him…her damp red hair glowing brilliantly in the rising sunlight.

“Better?” 

“Much,” James smiled.

Her lips met his in a kiss—soft and delicate—and James could feel the warmth of it radiating in his bones. 

“Look what I found,” she said, when she pulled away. 

James followed where she pointed, smile deepening when his gaze found the little orange flower she was indicating—bright and glistening with water, its small petals only just beginning to blossom.

“It’s mallowsweet,” she breathed, her voice low—reverential. “Its use in potion-making is endless, James. Endless. There’s so much we can do with it—so much we can make. In fact, there’s this Potioneer, in Wales…”

James looked away from the plant, gaze settling once again on the breathtaking sight of Lily. Her entire face was lit up when she spoke, recounting to him—in a tone of such wonder—the various experimental potions she’d read about that used that orange flower.

More fireworks sparked inside James as she talked. 

Merlin, he loved it when she spoke about Potions.

Her explanation stopped only when she ran out of breath. She smiled again, eyes darting back to the blossoming flower. “It’ll be a little while still before I can brew anything with it,” she sighed. “But it’s also just…beautiful, don’t you think?”

James didn’t look at the plant, eyes locked unwaveringly on his wife beside him. He smiled, wrapping an arm around her. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Beautiful.”

[cascader]

twice a year

for the @jilymicrofics jan 1 prompt "blossom"

“You’re doing it wrong,” James Potter said, squatting down to where Lily sat, legs crossed, in front of the fireplace. Hair askew, back hurting.  

She huffed her hair out of her face to glare at him. “Bugger off,” she bit out. “I didn’t ask. And I know. Obviously it’s not working.” 

She pointedly looked away from him and back to the Transfiguration textbook open next to her. Re-reading the instructions for the Untransfiguration spell was not helping, but she had to keep doing it until this smarmy kid left, at least. 

“I know,” he said, quite calmly considering the viciousness of her response. “But I couldn’t help myself. You’re so close.” 

Lily flicked her eyes up from the book to him without moving her head. 

“Close?” 

The edge of his mouth ticked up into a smile. She scowled deeper, and he immediately bit it back down. 

“Your abs will be sore tomorrow with how tense you are.”

“I relax the farther you are away from me, Potter. What are you on?”

“Exactly my point,” he said, dry. “Just breathe. You’re not breathing.”

“It shouldn’t matter whether I’m bloody breathing or not. It should just work.”

“And yet?”

“Oh, shut up.” 

She tried the spell again, making a big show of taking a big deep breath, and damn him to hell, it worked. 

“See?”

Lily forced her scowl back into something neutral. He did help her. (She didn’t ask for it.)

“Congrats, Potter. Even a Bandera Blossom smells good twice a year.” 

He just leaned back a little on his haunches and grinned. “I could say the same to you, Evans.”

[cascader]

jily | 7k | rated t | canon divergent

for @sunshinemarauder — happy holidays, kat, you superstar! <3 welcome to trope central; we hope you enjoy your stay :)

She didn’t tell him when it counted. She’s daydreaming of a redo.

READ ON AO3

[upthehillart]

Happy New Year!

(Oh no, Peter’s on the ground because he slipped on the ice! 😲)

[emeralddoeadeer]

Just some guy

10.3k rated T read on Ao3

A chance encounter, two random strangers. When Lily and James collide, sparks fly. ...but maybe it's not so random.

For @isahorcrux wishing you a very happy new year <3

[thequibblah]

I BEND LIKE A WILLOW THINKING OF YOU, a ct holiday gift exchange fic for the inimitable @cascader // jily angst + holiday party + what if it was kind of everything everywhere // 7.3k words, rated T

She wanted to shake him by the shoulders, to ask him point-blank why this seemed to be the only bloody universe in which he couldn’t see how she felt about him—and the only one in which he felt nothing beyond friendship for her.

READ. PLAYLIST.

[cascader]

jily | 7k | rated t | canon divergent

for @sunshinemarauder — happy holidays, kat, you superstar! <3 welcome to trope central; we hope you enjoy your stay :)

She didn’t tell him when it counted. She’s daydreaming of a redo.

READ ON AO3

[possessingtheproperspirit]

Happy holidays, @thequibblah!!! Please enjoy this #vibesnoplot story created just for you.

James and Lily, out in the cold in seventh year.

Read on AO3.

[clare-with-no-i]

Order Era | Canon Divergent | 5.8k | listen to the playlist

for dearest @kay-elle-cee! read now on AO3