keep calm/carry on

my-voice-rising @ hpff. inspo for Keep Calm and Carry On. featuring running commentaries in tags, constantly changing faceclaims, and being grumpy that jamie dornan is christian grey.

[periphery-fic]

graphic by clearplastic@the-dark-arts

Dead.

Marlene McKinnon, my best friend, was dead.  She had more than likely been murdered by supporters of You-Know-Who.  And we hadn’t been speaking to each other for over a month.

The dirt drive to our house was long and winding, and as soon as I passed the first bend beside the pasture I fell into the snow.  The sheep watched me with their black watery eyes, uninterested, and in my wildness I envied them.  I couldn’t breathe.  My lungs had collapsed and wouldn’t open again; the sobs were too heavy, and only when I thought I would faint did the first rattling breath come sweeping into the vacuum of my lungs.  With my cheek pressed into the snow I cried and thought of Marlene, and the last time I saw her: the way her white-blonde hair whipped through space as she Apparated, with a thunderous CRACK!, away from Sirius’s Cruciatus Curse.

Periphery, a Marauders’ AU  read it on AO3 | read it on HPFT

[lennoxed]

hello!!  while kc&co is undergoing some edits, i would love it if you checked out my current wip, Periphery.  if slow burns, tongue-tied OCs and muted angst are your thing, then this fic is for you <3

[lennoxed]

Hiya! I don't know whether you've heard that HPFF will go offline on April 28. Since I loved your story I was wondering whether you will post the whole thing on AO3 so it won't be lost to us? :)

Hi there! Thank you so much for reaching out. This is seriously just the nicest thing to hear. I will be posting Keep Calm and Carry On at AO3, and have already posted the first 6 chapters. However it was an edited version so I'm not sure if the entire fic will be posted right away or if it'll be updated as I edit. But it is there now! And so is Periphery, with an extra chapter than what was uploaded to HPFF. My username is firewhiskey_ginger!Thank you 💖

[lennoxed]

I was wondering if Keep Calm and Carry On would reach 100k reads, but I hadn’t checked it in a while--I just saw that it now has over 101k.  What a lovely feeling.  I’ll miss HPFF so much.  Please reach out, I would love to stay in touch with everyone!

[indiexmusic]

[lennoxed]

This song hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it!  Makes me think of all of those slow-burning Ediver moments, side-glances, knees accidentally bumping, truths coming forward.

“I just don’t know what to do.” “We’ll think of something,” he says, knees on the chilly pavement, both of us knowing we won’t.

[firewhiskey-ginger]

for anyone interested in a little re-read, i’m posting an edited version of Keep Calm and Carry On at AO3!

[firewhiskey-ginger]

so it’s been a year since i completed keep calm and carry on, and i made the mistake of letting my mind wander during a long hike the other day and daydream and plot and, long story short, would there be any interest in reading a companion piece??? not a full-length novel but idk

help me

i can’t let my babies go

[hawkasss]

[lennoxed]

hihihihi !!! its greenbirds from hpff haha- god, isn't it awkward introducing yourself by your hpff screenname? kind of dehumanising... i'm bea, yeah, that sounds a bit better. anyway !!!! i read that you left me a review on my greenbirds tumblr BUT i'm locked out of it, what did it say !?! i'm inSANELY curious also you're the best thanks bye xoxoxoxo

haaaaaaayyyy!!!!!! that’s so funny that you messaged me today. i literally just (FINALLY) responded to your amazing review of kc&co this morning! i sent you a message on tumblr like 3 months ago because i was trying to say thank you but my feeble pathetic flailing arms couldn’t formulate anything other than ALL CAPS AND WOW YOU ARE JUST THE BEST ILY SO MUCH so i thought i’d put it in a message and then respond to your review when i stopped openly sobbing every time i read it

it apparently took me 3 months to stop crying

wow that was rly long but THANK YOU is the gist of what the mystery message said (and there is a much more eloquent THANK YOU on hpff now)

[greydornan]

(x)

[hakuteeth]

me: I’m not bitter

narrator: she was bitter

[dorrismccomics]

[cosmicwhiskers-deactivated20160]

no but could you imagine one of the quidditch team members saying “knock on wood” and they all just hit oliver before a big match

[thevolutionofnerdy]

I’m almost a thousand percent sure the Weasley twins did that at some point

[ygrittebardots]

what’s better is that in the uk we actually say “touch wood” so now I’m envisioning the entire team gently and quietly placing their hands on him while oliver looks around in bewilderment

[siriusblacc]

seamus finnigan does cute things like bouncing up the stairs in excitement #canon confirmed 

[disenchantinqs]

“talk about it”? hahah, no no, I prefer to internalize all my problems so they eat away at me from the inside until I’m unable to function in any way 

[firewhiskey-ginger]

I was feeling nostalgic for Keep Calm and Carry On, so I sketched Edie and Oliver! I think their Kenmare vs Puddlemere arguments would continue on forever.

[fuks]

[lennoxed]

“Incendio.”  

The ancient gas stove burst to life.  With the teakettle brewing I heated Mum’s cast iron skillet.  Their hens’ eggs were scattered in odd places around the refrigerator, not where they should be.  I at last found the butter in with the silverware.  My jaw tightened; it wasn’t a good sign.  

While the pan grew hot my eyes traveled back out the window.  It would snow again today, surely.  Maybe I would Apparate to Godric’s Hollow rather than deal with the late trains.

My fingers gripped the counter.  I hadn’t been back to the wizarding village since Lily and James’s murders.  Dozens of vials, full of priceless herbs and tonics, remained there from her pregnancy.  I couldn’t bring myself to reclaim them but now I had no choice.  They were my livelihood; my landlord was losing patience after another late rent.  

Maybe I was mad for staying in London during such times, but despite the danger I could stay hidden in plain sight.  Lost in a crowd.  In Godric’s Hollow there was nowhere to hide.  And if the protective spells didn’t save Lily and James Potter—two of the most talented wizards of our age—then I wouldn’t stand a chance.

I cracked an egg in the pan, but the iron had grown too hot over the flame.  The whites seared with a horrible sound like molten flesh.  A whimper escaped me and I saw it, the scene I’d imagined over and over for weeks: James’s glasses cracked on the floor, Lily’s hair twisted around her face, almost suffocating her, their bodies hard and pale.

And Harry.  Poor baby Harry…

I threw the pan in the sink and opened the window again before the Muggle fire detector could rouse Mum and Dad.  With the cold air rushing over my feverish skin I noticed, past my shaking hands, one of the eggs had splattered onto the floor.

“Chloe?”

“Mum.”  I pocketed my wand before she noticed.  “Sorry, did I wake you?”  

She hugged a wooly cardigan tightly around her nightgown.  “It’s freezing, darling.  Did you forget to turn on the heat?”

I flushed because in truth I had only thought to perform a Heating Charm for myself.  Old habits die hard.  Before I could answer she said, “You’ve gone all pink.  Sit down and let me finish.”

“All right.”  Normally I would have protested, but it meant she was feeling herself today.  

“Your father is still lazing in bed, that man.  But I’m sure as soon as he smells bacon…”

Reaching past me, she latched the window once more while I poured the tea.  We stepped around one another with the familiarity of having spent decades in the same kitchen together, doing just this.  

Before she could set out three pieces of toast I said, “Just enough for you and Dad.  I’ve got to head back to London.”

It took me less than five minutes to tell the first lie.

Read the full introduction to Periphery here, on HPFF.