— leave it to me

You don't climb mountains without a team, you don't climb mountains without being fit, you don't climb mountains without being prepared, and you don't climb mountains without balancing the risks and rewards. It has to be intentional. You never climb a mountain by accident. James Potter. Seventeen. 1/5 Marauders. Pureblood. Ice cream enthusiast. Kind of an idiot, kind of a genius.

[jp-stags]

Lily, [@lilycanthearyourexcuses]

 It's hard for me to put things in to words. You've seen me in person, and it's hard enough to speak my feelings out loud. But I'm going to try, and even if I fail miserably, I hope you'll consider the things I am trying to say and not how badly I've orchestrated them. You drive me crazy. In good ways and in bad. I can't understand half of the things that you do, and why you care about people like Snivelly Snape. I know it's because you're a good person, and you've been friends with him for a long time. But I know you're a better judge of character than that. I've seen the way you look at me when I do something you don't agree with. I've seen the way you talk to your friends, and how they look at me after. Even still, you're on my mind. Pecking at my conscious. Driving me even crazier than you did the day before. There's something about you that makes me want to be better. I don't deserve your attention, or your affection, but I want to earn it. More and more I find myself thinking, what would Lily think? of the things that I do. It's making me absolutely mad, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to turn it off. The reason I'm writing this letter, is because there's no one that can help me understand the way I'm feeling— No one who can help me make heads or tails of the way my stomach flips every time you walk in to a room. I barely know you, and yet, you're the only thing that I can think about. Maybe... Maybe by putting all of this out in to the open... I don't know. I don't know what I'm hoping for. But it has to be better than the unrelenting torture of not knowing.

-James James blinked a few times rapidly, readjusting the reading glasses that sat atop his nose. There was a moments hesitation in between rolling up the letter and tapping his wand against it's seal, but he did it— and before he knew it, the parchment was off in search of it's intended.

[slytherin-sisters394]

James: I’m a type of guy who likes to think things through.

Remus: Since when? I once watched you stick a whole marshmallow in your mouth while it was still on fire.

[jp-stags]

@moonysecrets 💁🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[mischiefhasbeenmanaged]

Lily: Have you ever looked at yourself and wished you were different in every single way?

James: No, I’m a winner

[jp-stags]

@lilycanthearyourexcuses

[rvta-skeeter]

@jp-stags

In comparison to how most others would feel about having to sneak around in a relationship, Rita didn’t quite mind it. It being a secret almost felt reassuring to her, people couldn’t be in her business. Though she may be a hypocrite for this, it wasn’t as if she cared, she absolutely hated others poking their noses into her life. It was the main reason she started gossiping, everyone was too focused on finding out what was happening with others, rather than asking about her.

She couldn’t remember exactly why or how it started, James and her. One thing she did know though, was that the school had so many more empty classrooms than she realized. Maybe she should have figured this out earlier, considering the castle was massive. But it didn’t matter when she realized it, Rita quickly became more accustomed to visiting them, for they were fairly useful when it came to sneaking around. The many abandoned hallways served helpful as well, but if someone quietly came down, there was no hiding anything.

Stepping into a pitch black classroom, Rita turned the light on, trying not to stumble over any spare chairs or desks, before her eyes glanced over to the boy in the room.

[jp-stags]

If you had asked him when and how any of this started, James might not be able to offer up a straight forward kind of answer. A few months ago, just muttering Rita's name could send his stomach churning. She'd been more self-serving than anyone he'd ever met, and not particularly troubled by the well being of anyone around her... Or otherwise. It left a sour taste in his mouth. That was until he'd gotten way too drunk one night (Thanks!!Sirius!!), stumbled upon Rita, and the rest was history. History, of course, meaning that his memory remained fuzzy until he'd been callously reminded (and laughed at) the next day— With a major headache, to boot. Somehow... They'd ended up here. The discussion about what went on turned in to multiple discussions. Multiple classrooms.. Multiple closets. Actually, the James and Rita Hookup Game™ had become more about the thrill and less about who he'd been spending his time with. Even though he'd come to deduce that Rita wasn't actually that bad. But he'd never admit it. James would sooner die than mutter that admittance out loud. In the empty classroom of James' choosing, he sat in an empty chair, kicked his feet up on to an empty desk, and waited patiently for Rita to arrive. Each shuffle of feet that trotted by the door sent a spur of excitement down his spine. It wasn't until the dark haired gossip queen had trudged through the door that he crossed his arms over his chest, tipping back and forth as his chair teetered on it's legs. "Took you long enough." He muttered as she flipped the light on, "I was just thinking about leaving."

[avatars-by-cece]

[moonysecrets]

👀 wheres my hair gel you knob - James

“Up, mate. up. I’m using it to lure House aliens.”

@jp-stags

[jp-stags]

DAMN IT, MOONY.

[ofhotheads-blog]

Send my muse “👀 + a question” and they’ll have to answer with 100% honesty.

No deleting questions, either!

[minkaxkelly-deactivated20200116]

“Prongs, forget it! We’ll never make it to class in time at this point, and look the staircases are about to switch again.” Aurora said, stopping and holding on to the banister of the staircase they were on as she grabbed James’s robe with her free hand. “It’s only transfigurations… if there was any class for us to miss it’d be that one. Let’s just go back to the common room.” It seemed that her convincing had worked when she saw James turn and follow her down the staircase back to the Gryffindor tower.

As soon as they were back in the common room, they sat and Rorie tucked her legs into her chest as she leant against him. She didn’t want to tell him, but her mood had been down already from the start of the day when a couple of slytherins had made quips about her half blood status and how weird they found it that two pure bloods like Sirius and James hung out with her all the time. Rorie knew that thinking like that - about blood status and all- had become popular because of everything that was happening lately, but to be on that end of the political comments like that hurt her. She was trying her best not to show it to James but she was certain that with how well he knew her, he’d guess that something was wrong soon.

Rorie sighed as she fiddled with the end of her robe and played around with her wand, making half hearted sparks dance around in the space in front of them instead of being her chatty self. “Do you think it’s strange to other people? The fact that you, Sirius and I are best friends?” She asked, the sadness was evident in her quiet voice,  unable to help herself as the words just slipped out of her mouth from seemingly no where.

@jp-stags​

[jp-stags]

James was more than happy to abide by Auroras suggestion. Troublesome as he was, it wasn't often that he'd skipped out on classes, especially with OWLS being right around the corner. He knew that it wouldn't be difficult to hand off some excuse to the professor, so he allowed Rorie to lead them away from the staircase and back to the commons. He'd definitely been dying to get out of these heavy robes. It was a muggy, sticky day, and the material clashed with the amount of running and hustling. James was quick when he'd discarded his robes on to the back of the couch before launching himself on to the leathery cushion, expecting that Rorie wasn't far behind. The boy knew each of his best friends well enough to know when anything was off. Anything. Their silence could speak to him almost as loud as their words, and the softest shift in their tone could alert him to something as simple as an off day. Today, those subtle differences were evident in Aurora's body language. She didn't have to speak for James to know that something was weighing on her mind. He'd usually thought better of pressing, because she'd tell him in her own time when there was something she wanted to say. But of all his friends, Rorie was more like a sibling to him. It was different even than the relationship that he had with Sirius. Black was his brother, through and through, but Aurora and James were something to each other than neither of them had had before. Sirius didn't always understand that. "Ro." James started, just as Aurora had pulled her legs into her chest and leaned against him. He threw his arm around her, pulling her close and softly ruffling her hair. But he didn't need to ask at all. Rorie had started to offer up the details of her strife right away. "Oh, well. Hmm." His brow creased as he gave her thoughts some consideration. If he was being honest, James had never given much weight to other peoples opinions, especially when it came to the people he cared about. "I guess there are some people who do think it's strange." He began to explain, honestly. He sat back a little then, swiveling at the torso to get a look at Aurora while he was talking to her. "Do you think it's strange, Rorie?"

[pandoraarmitage]

The Dark Forest was out of bounds. Prohibited by Dumbledore himself. Although, on this cool night, Pandora found herself on the edge of it. She had been into the woods plenty of times, she found that if you treated the creatures with respect they would do the same with you. Pandora reasoned Dumbledore did not allow students was because there was a risk that one of them could get injured or be found in a very painful death. All that Pandora knew was that nothing was inherently good or evil, and that included the forest. The wind blew Pandora’s silvery hair, and she was thankful that she had the foresight to brush it before her little escapade. At least the newer tangled would be easier to deal with. Looking around, the deduced she had spent enough time waiting, and placed one foot into the forest prepared to go in a ways. Perhaps check a few of the little settlements she had discovered. Quite nonchalantly, she took another step and began walking before she heard a voice call out.

“You’re going to get yourself lost one of these days.” The voice was one she recognized from the quidditch pitch, and caused her to look back with a smile. She fully turned around, pulling her cloak around her further. She laughed lightly at the sentiment, her eyes twinkling with a bit of mischief. “I find that nothing is ever truly lost, merely that it finds itself in a place it didn’t expect to be.” Pandora mused out loud, her naturally quiet voice carrying slightly from being outside. Going to meet him at the edge of the woods, she paused, the border between the kept grounds and the wild grass of the forest providing a stark contrast. “And sometimes that unexpected place is even more lovely than one could even dream.” Pandora finished her commentary with that sentiment, hoping she gave him a little peek into how she viewed things. Which she gathered was very different than her own. Pandora didn’t know much about James Potter, what she did know wasn’t entirely all positive, although enough of it was. He was certainly maturing, that was obvious to anyone with eyes. Pandora merely wondered whether he would grow or shy away from the changes.

@jp-stags

[jp-stags]

"Ah, as wise as ever, Miss Armitage. I suppose I shouldn't be so quick to worry about you." James offered a broadened grin, genuine in nature as it had always been when he was in the company of genuine people. "Are you, erm, headed out... There?" He took a few steps forward, closer to the prominent change of scenery- the place where the large, over grown fields of grass clashed in such a stark way against the clearings that lead up to the castle. Fields that would eventually give way to the forest. He was familiar with them, moreso than he should be, though he was thankful that it was only the occassional full moon that would draw him out there...

[jp-stags]

moonysecrets‌:

If the day had gone flawlessly, he would have beat James a third time to the Astronomy tower.  Not even the speed of the wolf could have prepared him for trying to dodge Lulu Poutou. He finally vanished behind a similar tall student and ran for the tower. He abhorred being late, but somehow.. someway he was most of the time always late. Save this one mediocre thing about beating James for their star date. The boy didn’t forget his part of the bargain, which took him even longer to secure a jug of punch.

A fruit colored punch. One might guess it was strawberry in nature, but not quite. The chocolate bars stuck out of his robe, but he wasn’t trying to hide anything. The boy was in a rush daring to take two steps at a time until he burst open the door. “Prongs!” He exclaimed before he let the door close behind him. A large grin formed on his lips even though he had lost the race. “Blimey. Do you have girls that chase you too?” He asked with a bemused expression, extending out the punch to his friend. “Can we see any planets yet?”

He snorted at Remus' opening statement, his retort entirely offhanded; "Not the least of which being yer' mum." He spat, though there was humor in his voice. James then shook his head, pointing to the top of the tower with a shrug. "You know that we can't see the good stuff until midnight. You were careful, right? Anyone see you?" He tapped his foot lightly, "Honestly if we have a repeat of last week..." James laughed, "Maybe we could use the workout. I don't think I've had to run that fast in years." He plopped himself down on to a chair, popping a piece of candy into his mouth from a bad he'd also had hidden in his pocket, "Dumbledore wont get his hands on my Skivers again. It took me forever to find where Padfoot hid the rest of them." He huffed.

[jp-stags]

edgxr-bones‌:

     Edgar’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile as James’ face contorted into one of pure shock when he appeared on the bench beside him.  He hadn’t meant to spook the other male so badly, but he knew his genuine excitement to entertain himself probably made his greeting much more aggressive than he’d intended.  Despite the reaction, his next words only caused him to become more intrigued with whatever James had buried his nose into.

     “ My bad!  You Just looked incredibly bored. ” He said calmly, pulling one of his legs up underneath him in the bench and tucking it underneath his opposite thigh.  “ But it looks as if I got your confused and intrigued face mixed up once again.  They’re very similar, if no one has ever told you that. ” The Hufflepuff teases him, the smile on his lips transitioning into a smirk.

     As they sat there, Edgar couldn’t help but lean himself over and try his best to scan over the contents of the book that sat nestled in James’ lap.  “ Well, every covert mission does better when you have a sidekick.  So what’s caught your eye today, Pots? ” He questions, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly.

James sent out a laugh, patting the seat next to him with his elbow (his hands being busy with an apple and the diary, of course) in some awkward sort of exchange. He was pleased when Edgar wasted no time in taking a seat, and even leaned in to the other boy a little while he took a bite of his apple. "I swear if there aren't any good bits about me in here, I'm going to be livid." He glanced over at Edgar, a wiggle in his brow. James swallowed down the mouthful of apple and decided he should explain. "So Sirius decided that it would be funny to cut the knees out of all three pairs of my favorite jeans." James nearly scoffed, flipping one of the pages of the book in his lap. "Retaliation in a similar capacity would have been juvenile." He'd taken one last bite of his apple and tossed it over his shoulder, pulling his wand from his robes just as fast and muttering a quick lumos to help illuminate the pages. "What I'm getting at, Edgar, is you should never mess with the people who know where you keep your diary."

[jp-stags]

[ @lilycanthearyourexcuses ] James Potter did not have a problem with girls. While he could be quite energetic, he never had an issue asserting himself conversationally. The boy could talk about anything and everything, and usually he did. He wasn't blind or naive. James knew that he was attractive, and could often tell when a small stutter of words was on account of a crush. But his arrogance never spurred because of it. His friends would tease him, but he brushed it off. If anything, he coveted the attention and wasn't exactly sure if he'd ever done a single to deserve it. Dates came and went. There were many girls inside the castle that he thought were attractive, but a pretty face wasn't everything. He might have been young, but some nights he longed for a different kind of company. Though he loved his friends very much, it wasn't the kind of company that they were capable of providing. And none of them had the same brilliant auburn hair. James couldn't explain what exactly it was about Lily that had drawn him to her. Perhaps it was because there were so many things. Her veracity. Unwillingness to bend to things she didn't agree with. Her passion. Lily Evans was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on.. And she didn't give a damn about James Potter. Especially when him and his companions were tormenting Snivelly Snape. What she saw in him, he would never understand, nor did he particularly care to. They shared a class or two. Three, actually, and he'd always sat just close enough to her so that he could fawn over her silently, like any brooding teenager that harbored a crush on a girl. He'd stare when he didn't think she was looking. Glance up every now and then to see what she was doing. He'd even be sure to look away when he thought she'd catch a glimpse of him over her shoulder-- his attempt at seeming aloof and offbeat. But it wasn't until Lily and him had both become members of the Arts & Crafts Club that he felt like he'd finally had an in. Today, James had come prepared with an extra sheet of parchment-- and toward the middle of class he'd began to scrawl across the page while the professor wasn't looking. Arts & Crafts tonight... You coming? Folding up the note, the boy slipped it over her shoulder having taken the desk behind her today.

[jp-stags]

James: I'll do it.

James: But only for the attention.

[edgxr-bones]

     Edgar had found himself wandering around the halls aimlessly for what felt like hours hoping to find something to occupy his mind.  He hadn’t been able to focus on any of his coursework and his usual remedy was finding someone to distract himself from his responsibilities.  The boy always found himself approaching groups of students only to have them stiffen up at the sight of his Prefect badge – only discouraging him further from settling into these conversations.

     It wasn’t until he found himself in the grounds when he found a lonesome student with their nose buried in what looked like a textbook – giving Edgar just the excuse to strike up a conversation.  As he moved his way closer, he carefully slipped onto the bench next to them and leaned in just enough to put his face into view behind the book.  “ You look like you could use a distraction from that. ” he muses, a sly smile slipping over his features.

[jp-stags]

It was an accident, really. James had no idea how the book had ended up in his possession. It was almost as though he had slipped, fallen, and accidentally scooped it up from underneath the pillow of the bunk beside his own. It didn't take him long to flip through the pages, eager to soak up whatever information he could find— pausing mostly when he'd come across his own name, and not caring much for what was written about anyone else. James was just about to take a bite of the apple he'd pocketed along the way, one leg crossed over the other, propping up the diary on his lap. Suddenly, a face appeared out of nowhere, and it startled the boy enough that he nearly jumped. Edgar was honestly lucky that he hadn't caught the piece of fruit in the nose. "Bloody hell, Bones. You can't just creep up on me like that mate." He breathed out audibly, his heart racing from the spook. "I'm trying to be covert." He blinked, eyes flickering over his shoulder at the castle behind him... Not bothering to move very far from the quad. "...Kind of."

[jp-stags]

@moonysecrets It was time. That day of the week. James waited in anticipation as the days went on, counting down the hours until this night. It was a standing 'date' that he had with one of his best friends every week. The hours of the day would creep quietly into hours of the night, and the number of bodies that moved through the castle whittled down to nothing. It wasn't very difficult for James to creep through the hallways undetected. The only time he'd ever had any trouble was when (and if) any of the other students came across him and threatened to tattle. That wasn't usually the case though. Tonight, James had managed to beat Remus to the astronomy tower. It was dark and deserted, of course, just the way that they'd expect it to be. The (barely) younger of the two boys brought all of the snacks, including those little meat pucks that Remus seemed to love so much. The competition was fierce; Lupin had beat him the last two weeks and James was not going down without a fight. If anyone was going to put on a prize winning show with these glass planets... It was him.

[boldbraveandbeautiful]

The weather outside was fairly pleasant. A warm breeze was blowing through the air, stirring her already messy brown hair. Brown eyes looked over her ink stained books, which seemed to mysteriously have gotten soaked in the black liquid in the time it took for her to use the restroom. She rolled her eyes, twirling her wand around her fingers absentmindedly as she laid them all out in a row. A volley of yellow sparks shot out of it and the sixth year rapidly stood up and trampled any sparks, not wanting to get arson on her already mile long record. She set her wand down gently in the grass, before once again leaning up against the bark of the tree. It was weirdly quiet. The only sounds being the gentle lap of the lake and the wind blowing through the trees. Mary had never liked the quiet before, preferring to be around loud and wild people. She tended to overthink if she was left to herself. The vivacious teen much preferred the company of others, and was an extrovert through and through. So it was rare for her to not be surrounded by friends or making people laugh in a crowd. However, some alone time was needed. Out of necessity, because the spell she was about to try could get messy extremely fast. She didn’t need Mcgongall hounding her arse for cleaning if it went south.

Mary wasn’t naive, she knew she had screwed the ink well tightly shut. One too many spills happened in her younger years for her to not do so. Several favorite bags have gotten ruined that way. She also knew that ever since the summer, tensions at Hogwarts seemed bubbling. She also knew that she was a nonwhite muggleborn, a minority in a school where prejudiced seemed to be become more and more exposed. She knew that it wasn’t safe or really wise for her to be alone, especially ever since that dreaded attack. She still had mental and physical scars to prove it, but Mary has never been known for her wisdom or her common sense. While she was terrified of being attacked again, she refused to let those ignorant toe rags reduce her to a shell of herself. She was Mary MacDonald, Queen Bee of Hogwarts and she didn’t take shit from anybody, especially not two cowardly bullies who jumped her while her back was turned and didn’t give her a chance to properly duel. Still though, even with her bravado and brave talk, there was always a lingering feeling of fear. An undercurrent of anxiety that she found had stubbornly appeared. But Mary was stubborn too. She wouldn’t let her stubborn paranoid strand distract her stubbornly spirited self.

Which brings her to her current situation. Currently, she was sitting by the black lake, about to dry off her books from whoever inked them. She rolled her eyes, a cowards way of making a statement. She bet that whoever it was would have thought twice if she had been present. She had a bit of a reputation. Bringing up her wand, she exhaled. Normally she wasn’t nearly as careful whenever it came to spellwork, but she didn’t fancy her chances of being able to find schoolbooks like these in Hogsmeade. So she wanted to be careful. She wasn’t as gifted with Charms as her best friend, so she was going to just have to try her best. Waving her wand, she was about to cast the spell.

[jp-stags]

James wasn't an idiot. Or, well, he was kind of an idiot, but not intellectually. Sometimes the way he behaved was erratic, and the young man didn't always give his actions the most thorough consideration before he acted. But there was always a method to his madness. This week of two-a-day detention had been brought to him in part by his temper, but also because someone had dont something mean to one of his friends... And James was not the type to let things go. He'd seen the culprit unscrew Mary's bottle of ink and tip it over on to her notebook. They'd turned the pages, sneering along with their friends as the dark liquid splattered across her carefully scrawled notes. She was quite capable of taking care of herself, and had proved it on more than one occasion— but enough was enough. Was there no end to her torment? Had she not suffered plenty at the hand of a silly and antiquated system of archaic ideals. Of course, that was when James had pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it at the group of boys-- his form decisive and firm-- and cast ‘ANTEOCULATIA! ‘ at the lot of them. Professor Slughorn didn't find his selected dose of punishment to be very amusing, and so he'd suspended the use of James' wand for a week as an endorsement to his punishment. The boy had caught Mary sneaking off the quad, her books in hand. He's not sure if she had heard what he did, but that didn't matter to him at all. The only thing that had plagued him was whether or not she was okay. It was one thing to appear strong, but in times like these it wasn't easy to remain that was all the time. He followed after her, a ways behind as he'd mentioned to his friends that he'd catch up with them later. James had managed to pop up on her just as she was getting ready to cast the spell on her books, and he shoved his hands in his pockets as he slid on to a neighboring rock. "Solid form, Mary-Mac. But a rigid wrist might result in your pages going up in flames instead of dissolving the ink." He smiled at her, because he was only teasing. Gently ruffling feathers came naturally to him. "You doing alright?"

[l-mclfoy]

Lucius wasn’t sure how he got himself into detention. He usually made sure to be careful, eyes constantly checking around himself but with the split of him and Nicolas… he’d been distracted. Anger started intensifying easier and it resulted in not exactly the best consequences. His parents hated detention, they always said it impaired on his image and how he’d be in big trouble if it happened again. Always finding a way to make it up to them though, it never resulted in extra trouble at home, after all he did live like the perfect son and nothing less.

But, this idiotic fifth year muggleborn got into his way. He calmly told them to move, they ignored him. With a sterner voice, he repeated to get out of the way, the other looked at him, rolled their eyes and again did nothing. Now that was just an act of disrespect and he wouldn’t put up with that. Sending Flipendo towards the other student so they’d have to get out the way, they sailed into the wall. So maybe he was more forceful than he should have been, so what? They should have moved when he was being decent. Unfortunately, a teacher had watched and happily gave him a detention.

That was what led him there, scrubbing at a dirty cauldron with his wand tucked away securely in his room. No one was there besides a few others who had detention and the door was locked. He sighed, “How’d I let this happen?”

[jp-stags]

Unlike some of the other bodies in the classroom, James Potter could pinpoint the exact moment that he knew he was going to be thrown into detention. It was a wonder, really, that he hadn't managed to queue up detention for the rest of the year. It was also a 'wonder' that Remus, Sirius, and Peter weren't right here next to him... But it was his turn to take one for the team and so he did. This period of time was meant to be used for studying, or for completing coursework, but instead the young Gryffindor had decided to use the time for a much needed nap. He hunched over the desk where he sat, using his arms as pillows with his face buried safely inside of them. It seemed like he'd only been asleep for mere seconds when the sound of a loud BANG! woke him from his slumber. With a sleepy grunt he shot up, eyes a-squint as he looked around through his nap time fog. "Huh, what?!" The boy wiped some drool from the side of his mouth with the back of his hand and looked around at the few other bodies who'd accompanied him. Dark eyes bounced over a small number of faces before they'd settled on Lucius Malfoy, "What the hell was that?"