Lily Evans

❦ She's fine, most of the time She takes her days with a smile She moves like a dancer in lights Spinning around to the sound But sometimes she falls down. ❦

[itsybitsybellatrix]

“no. that’s not how to do it,” bellatrix commented simply, without making any move to help the first year slytherin a small distance away from her to pronounce the spell better. instead, she flipped through her book absentmindedly, thinking about what a disaster her last attempt to conjure up a patronus had been. when the midget attempted to wordlessly ask her for help, she took out her wand and pointed it at him, raising a single eyebrow threateningly, daring him to take another step. he didn’t; he scurried off and left her in peace. “next?” she said mockingly. 

[spitfire-evans-blog]

Lily eyed the interaction from her short distance away.  How the Slytherin house had any sense of loyalty to itself was beyond her.  She wasn’t even particularly sure how Severus had lasted as long as he had with the snakes, given the cut throat mentality a majority of their upperclassmen seemed to exhibit.

“I wouldn’t expect a ‘next’ after a display like that,” Lily commented, being lost in thought distracting her from filtering her own commentary.  The poor first year was already out of sight, but the arrogance to think someone else would want similar treatment had hit her apparently.

[james--potter]

“They call it a Suicide,” Guy said, nodding to the drink in his hand. It had all of the sodas that Guy could get his hands on, all mixed into one–MagiCola, Zapp’s Lemon-Lime, Dr. Mojo, Orange Drink, Shamanaid, some yet-to-be identified blue sports drink, and just a touch of Butterbeer (for the fun of it). “Can’t say you’ve lived until you’ve tried one, right?” He smiled at the wix next to him.

[spitfire-evans-blog]

Lily blinked a moment at his comment, glancing briefly to the cup in his hand and then back to him,”  I’m not sure, that I have any interest in drinking something with that name.”   While the humor of the name wasn’t lost on her, it seemed a bit morbid for her taste, and the drink itself didn’t sound appealing as a result.

[forgetfulfortescue-blog]

Alice sat in the dining hall, staring through her glass. Her eyes were unfocused, so she was obviously thinking about something besides the food in front of her. She blinked and shook her head, looking over to the person speaking near her, not sure if they had been trying to get her attention or not. “Sorry, what did you say?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

Lily felt half starved when she got to breakfast that morning, and she had no trouble making the food disappear on her plate.  She almost hadn’t noticed the untouched plate of her housemate across from her.  She paused, slowing her chewing a moment to inquire if everything was alright.  

She had obviously heard of the last installment from Miss Echo about Alice, but they’d never had a talk about it.  She didn’t even really know how to approach the topic, given the morbid prediction she’d been handed and the fact that Lily was terrified she’d be next.

“I asked if everything was okay,” she repeated when the girl’s attention finally turned,” You’re not eating anything..... just wanted to... ya know... ask.....”   Her voice trailed out every few words, mostly because she didn’t know what Alice’s mind was stuck on, and if she was wrong she didn’t want to be the one to remind her of her fortune.

[spitfire-evans-blog]

pxtterprxngs:

At that James actually felt offended that she would rather be spending her time with the likes of Bellatrix or any other Slytherins, Snape included, then him.  However he decided to play it off instead not actually showing her that what she said hurt. “Right. Well I’m just saying that at least here I wouldn’t call you by any names or anything.” He said trying to be as casual as possible.

He attempted to try and cut up the ingredients needed sans the missing one when he heard the book drop on the table looking up in shock he didn’t know weather he was about to feel the wrath of Evans or if she was just going to up and walk out the classroom altogether,

“So what your saying is that I’m rude, self centered and as dumb as a dungbomb?” He asked before shaking his head.  James had a few choice words on his lips but figured that would either result in a stuffed up potion, a mad Lily or him having to do all the work. Most likely all of the above. “And what books that? The one where he collects people for his little club?”

“You’re right, Potter, you’re not guilty of calling anyone names,” Lily retorted, not willing to give him leeway on that one.  If there is one thing James Potter had been consistent with since she knew him, it was his bullying.    While she had begun to question her thoughts on him, it didn’t excuse the things she’d witnessed in previous years.

What had gone from a tolerable study session, was quickly turning into something worse.  When he went on insult their potions professor, she simply crossed her arms and glowered at him.  She took a second to think of what to say to him, mostly because this was a rabbit hole they fell down often and she didn’t quite feel like doing it now.

“He doesn’t collect people,” she started,” wanting to help people you see potential in, isn’t a crime, and looking down on someone for it is pretty pretentious don’t you think?  Just because you haven’t been invited, doesn’t mean it’s somehow a thing to be mocked.”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xtedtonksx:

“But if I don’t ask someone, how will I know if others can read it or not? I wouldn’t want to assume and send it in and get a poor mark thanks to not be through.” Ted pouted, resting back in his chair with his arms crossed across his chest. He was doing his best, truly. This was a short essay that would, typically, take someone a breezy half an hour to write and here Ted was slowing down as much as possible to get a good result and taking an hour and nothing! “I think if Slughorn was understanding, I wouldn’t have to ask in the first place.”

“I’m serious,” Lily insisted,” Just go show him you have it done, ask him if he can read it, and if he can’t, then ask for an extension to rewrite it.  He’ll see it’s done, so it’s not like you’re just asking so you can get more time.”  After a pause,” Perhaps investing in a self writing quill for future assignments would be a good idea as well.”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xgaspardshingletonx:

“Yes. As I have said, my bravado isn’t without backing. I’ve always put safety first.” Gaspard may not have been littered with close friends, but he certain never wanted to hurt anyone. It served no purpose in his eyes. In truth, safety was a rather easy precaution to make. But not many did, it seemed. Either because of grandiose ideas of themselves or because the idea doesn’t cross their mind, for whatever reason. “Oh, hardly,” he said, missing the joke. “I have plenty more supplies that I could have brought.”

Gaspard scratched his chin, thinking. “I cannot come up with a single reason to need poison,” he admitted, “though it is fun to make. Then again…it is never fun to be caught with such a thing, I imagine. Could make you look rather suspicious, yes?”   

It wasn’t lost on Lily that he had missed her humor, but she wasn’t about to point it out to him.  Instead, she simply smiled and continued to listen.

“Poisons have their uses,” she reasoned,” Why else would they teach us to brew them?  And I’m sure you could take the poison to Slughorn or the hospital wing and they’d take it off your hands after, without too much trouble. But, I understand what you’re saying.  Medicine it is.”

She looked down at the ingredients once more and then back to him,” What was your plan for a base?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

pxtterprxngs:

James held his hand to his heart in mock shock. “Why Lily Evans I don’t know what you mean. I’m just saying that there are worse people you could be stuck doing this with.”  He let go of the act and put an easy smile on his face. He was actually surprised at how much Lily was playing along with this and trying to be nice rather then yell at him for something or another. He actually quiet liked this. 

Looking at the red haired girl in front of him his smile grew when she complimented him. “See I am good for somethings you know.” He winked before realizing she had yet to say anything about the missing ingredient. Frowning even more when she started acting more like McGonnagal and testing him on brewing potions. He however tried to cover it up by pretending to think. “Well Slughorn, I’m pretty we have to prepare the ingredients. cut them up, weigh them what not.” James said throwing out many options hoping one was the correct one. In his annoyance of being given a mini test he didn’t even notice when he sarcastically called Lily Slughorn.

“I can’t really think of any,” Lily responded to his pressing there were worse people she could be spending time with.  She was used to hearing Potter talk himself up, whether it was to her or other people.  She looked back down at her book, with a slight roll of her eyes, turning the page from the needed ingredients to the directions on what to do next.

She sideways glanced when he took her compliments, but the wink had her looking back to the text.  The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was amused by the gesture.  She did catch him referring to her by Slughorn, and she felt a ping of annoyance.  

“You know, Potter,” she said, putting the book flat on the table and resting her hands on it to slowly look in his direction,”  I happen to like Slughorn, so I’m going to take that as a compliment.  Someone as kind, well meaning, and intelligent as the professor is quite a thing to wish to be.  Perhaps you would do taking a page from his book?” 

[spitfire-evans-blog]

pxtterprxngs:

James just gave Lily a look back. He was actually joking about the whole greeting thing but once in a while it would be nice to actually get a hello from her. He just raised an eyebrow at her awaiting her response and smiled once he got what he thought was the appropriate one. “See now that wasn’t so bad was it?” He replied the smile still on his face.

Once he had figured out which potion Lily had chosen he asked grinned a little more. He knew that Snape and Lily did most of their potions homework together and if this had the added side effect of making Snape annoyed as well as getting time to spend with Lily then James was all for it. “I mean you already get to spend time with me is that not benefit enough?” James joked knowing that Lily was going to reply with some some sort of witty remark .

Listening to the ingredients listed off, James just rolled his eyes before pointing to the door that said Supply Cupboard. “Well not really but my guess would be the one with sign above it sayings supplies.” James said sarcastically, not really wanting to be treated like a 5 year old. He made his way to the cupboard and got what he could find. He came back with the sneezewort and the lovage as well as a cauldron and some scales. purposely leaving the scurvy grass behind mostly to annoy the red haired girl. “And that should be everything.” He said as he dumped it all on the table making sure not to break anything.

Lily rolled her eyes as he praised her for the greeting.  It was going to be a long hour, although she couldn’t help but notice the a mild amusement felt at the joke.  She pushed the thought aside quickly, however, because the last thing she needed was to start thinking Potter was amusing.

“I feel like you and I have different definitions of ‘benefit’,” Lily said, her tone not biting.  One moment wanting nothing to change with her interactions with the fellow Gryffindor next to her, and the another instantly after where she realizes being somewhat friendly was the easiest way to stay sane through their study date.

She simply nodded as he mentioned where the supplies were and waited for him to bring them back.  She noted right away that he hadn’t brought everything, and she couldn’t understand how he’d forgotten so quickly such a short list.  She frowned slightly, surveying the table and what he’d brought.  

She quickly turned her face passive and rather than point out his mistake she simply complimented,”  Nice job, Potter, there’s hope for you yet.”  He’d learn soon enough how important it was to make sure that all ingredients were present when brewing.  In the mean time, she could get a little bit of joy watching him make the mistakes and get flustered,”  Now.  What’s the first thing we should do when preparing to start a new brew?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xgaspardshingletonx:

“Ahh, yes. This is quite true, Miss Evans. However, I might counter by saying that many students like to boast and do not wish to be questioned–this last thing I can understand–so they will say what they think will give them the most credit. I, however, am not too fond of boasting. What is that saying…? The proof is in the pudding, I believe. A bit of an odd thing to say, hmm?” Gaspard smiling lightly, politely. 

It was nice, nearly refreshing, to have someone actually take an interest in his experimenting. It didn’t happen often. Gaspard suspected this was because most were afraid of something going dastardly wrong. Lily seemed to have her suspicions, but perhaps he had soothed them? “I’ve got plenty of standard ingredient, fairy wings, dittany, nightshade, Mercury and Mars, Oppopanax, baneberry, Billywig sting, castor oil, aconite, gomas barbadensis, Horklump juice,  Aqua Vitæ, a little bit of Deadlyius, Motherwort, Angel’s Trumpet, Lovage, Mandrake root, Ptolemy, and…African sea salt.” He rubbed his chin. “Mostly poisonous stuff and beautifying ingredients, huh? And healing ingredients.”

“Well,” she mused,” I’ve not heard of you spending any extended amount of time in the hospital wing of the castle.”  She wasn’t sure she could say she’d heard all that much about him, in general, given she kept to her own circle more than anything, but that wasn’t too important.  If someone got hurt in more than a minor way, the students of Hogwarts heard about it.

She listened as he named off the potion ingredients laid out before them, her eyes moving from one to the other as he said them.  Only when he finished did she move her eyes to him,”  Decided to bring the entire potions supply closet then?”

Laughing, she looked back once more, her mind already putting together ingredients that she already knew created certain potions.  That wasn’t going to be too helpful here, since he was looking for something new that they hadn’t learned in class.  It could be a start, however, knowing which ingredients were already tested as being complimentary to each other within a cauldron.

“I suppose, the first question, is what sort of end result are you looking for?  Poison or Medicine?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xtedtonksx:

“Well of course I know what it says,” He told her, putting both his hands on his hips and pouting–as if that could, somehow, fix the situation of his handwriting. “But I’ve got some very good hunches that other’s can’t.” Just worrying about it was starting to give the Hufflepuff a headache. “But there’s so much to do, Lily! I don’t know if I can get it all done.”

“Well, the longer you take attempting to find someone who can read this, the less time you’ll have to rewrite it,” she said, grinning because she knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear in this moment.  Rather than her cheeky response being the only one to offer she added,” You know, if you ask Slughorn for an extension, to better the handwriting, he’d likely understand and give you a little bit more time.”

[remus--lupinn-deactivated201806]

The small windowsill was the perfect spot to get some last minute studying done, people rarely traveled down the hall this time of day and the window overlooked the grounds, giving Remus the perfect amount of light. He hadn’t had any time to study, between a week of being forced to straighten the Hogwarts library without magic his prefect duties that had to be altered around that particular detention he had a lot to do and very little time to get it done. He’d skipped lunch and dinner and the ‘hanger’ was starting to creep up on him. Remus peered up over his textbook as he felt a shadow casting over him, raising a single eyebrow as he looked to see who was there. “Unless the castle is burning to the ground or you have some form of sugar I need to get this done.”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

Lily had noticed Remus’ absence at their meals, and figured she’d help her fellow prefect out and bring him some food.  She knew all too well the grind of responsibility that left her without dinner a night or two a month, at least.   

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing I bring, not only sugar, but other good food for you,” she said, holding up the makeshift ‘take out’ bag she’d made with several napkins from the Great Hall.

She held out the offering to him, glancing over to the books he was reading and after a moment’s pause she asked,” What are you working on?”

[xtedtonksx-blog]

Ted turned his essay sideways, squinted, and then turned it right side up again. “Oi!” He waved over a nearby student. “Can you read what this says? Slughorn has been getting on my case about my handwriting again. And I’ve really got to pass his class with good marks this year…”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

Lily glanced down to the chicken scratch on the page and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t going to be able to decipher it any better than he was.  Looking up to Ted, she answered,” If you can’t read your own writing, I’m not sure what makes you think I’ll be able to.”   Laughing, she suggested,” Perhaps try writing it a little slower so it’s not so messy across the page?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xgaspardshingletonx:

Gaspard titled his head, eyebrow raised. “Aware of the dangers?” He echoed. “I’m rather offended by your insinuation,” he said. Despite his words, Gaspard’s tone was as cool as though they were discussing weather or the different types of grass that could be used. “This isn’t my first rodeo, as you might say.” He wasn’t one to boast, but Gaspard had a natural knack for experimenting and inventing. Particularly when it came to potions. In fact, he suspected he was better than Lily. Than nearly everyone in the school. He just didn’t show it off. He stayed quiet about his abilities and had rejected Slughorn’s offer to join his Slug Club–there wasn’t enough time in his day to fit the meetings in. Not to mention he had more of a drive to learn. “I know what I’m doing.”

“There are many students who ‘know what they’re doing’ and end up in the hospital wing,” Lily said in defense of her even questioning his activity.  Her observation wasn’t even tied to students that tried experimenting, even their studies left some of them under the nurse’s care.  

She wasn’t here to lecture him on safety, however, knowing he’d likely do what he wanted in the end anyway.  Truth be told, it was likely he had some degree of knowledge on what he was doing, more than she would trust others to have, but she felt obligated to say something. 

Rather than letting that be the end of it, she took a seat next to him and with a loud release of breath she asked,” Well, what do you have, then?”

She wasn’t quite sure why she’d invited herself to join his little activity, except perhaps she was bored enough.  Hopefully, he wouldn’t care much... 

[spitfire-evans-blog]

pxtterprxngs:

James had been extremely proud of himself. Although he hadn’t been able to get Lily’s bracelet off of her at Hogsmede he had someone still been able to keep her true to the terms of her deal.After explaining to her that she had agreed to all this if he helped her try to get the bracelet off which he had -  not successfully, she was forced to agree that maybe he hadn’t done anything to void the deal.

Strutting down towards Slughorn’s room he wad actually looking forward to some more time to the pretty redhead and with less distractions then it made him feel all the more better. His spirits lifted the entire way he high fived a few surprised students and waved to a couple of swooning girts.

Arriving at the door to the room though his spirits were somewhat deflated when she didn’t even greet him and told him that there time was cut short by a whole 5 minutes. “We really have to work on your greeting skills Evans. “Hi Lily I’m  looking forward to our “Study date” thanks for asking.”  James said with a slight smirk as he placed his stuff down and sat next to her. “And I hope you realize that you promised me an hour. I said I would help you Lily did I not help?” He asked as he peered over her shoulder to see what potion they would be making.

She gave him a look as he called her out on her lack of greeting.  Annoying, but fair, as it was rather rude of her to just jump into things.  After a pause, debating to herself whether or not she wanted to acknowledge he was right, she conceded,”  Hello, Potter.”

As he looked over her shoulder at what she had in front of her she simply stated,” Befuddlement Draught.  This week’s assignment.   I figured if we’re going to work on this together, it may as well be something I benefit from as well.”

Sev wasn’t too happy when he learned that she had set up this study session with Potter, especially when Lily had to cancel their own plans to get together and work on the homework together.  They partnered for every potion assignment that they could over the years, so she had hoped he’d be more understanding on her having to ditch on this one, but that wasn’t the case.   Potter didn’t need to know about that, but she couldn’t help but wonder how much easier this would have been if she had been with her best friend instead.

“Scurvy grass, lovage, and sneezewort are the main ingredients,” she continued,” And obviously the base and tools to actually prepare and brew.  You do know where to find them right?”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

tiajnes:

Hestia could tell from the others posture that she hadn’t slept, or, hadn’t slept as much as she should have. She knew from years of experience that it made you feel like utter shite, & barely raised an eyebrow in response to Lily’s snappy tone. She knew how irritable it sometimes made her, having suffered the consequences of being subjected to Alice’s patented I’m disappointed in you glare, & living to tell the tale ( of course, not without giving Alice all her notebooks before she went to bed, knowing her own worst habits were, undoubtedly, reading & writing until 4 in the morning when she had classes the next day. ) 

She softened her tone, only masking the amusement with a hint of worry before she passed Lily by, speaking quietly. “Sleepless night, then? I have some caffeinated tea, if you want some. Tastes just like normal, just keeps you awake long enough to function like a normal human being.” She didn’t bother to offer again, sliding down onto the edge of the Hufflepuff table, her bag next to her as she tugged it off her shoulder. She began to pile her plate, only pausing to give Lily another concerned look. “You really didn’t sleep, did you?” She could tell that the girls lack of filter wasn’t anything out of spite, merely fatigue, & knew the girl well enough to know that she didn’t actually dislike her ( the last few years in the Slug Club together had proved that, surprisingly. They’d gotten along well, even when the reason they were forced together was to keep out of Slughorn’s reach while he wined & dined other students. )

Lily wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that it was so obvious her lack of sleep.  She decided that worrying about that was more energy than she had to expend, and if anything it was helpful because people would know to keep an arm’s length if necessary.  She hadn’t expected to get an invitation to join Hestia, although she likely shouldn’t have been surprised.  Taken it as a sign, she slid onto the bench across from her, a bit relieved to get off her feet.

“Time got away from me,” she said, running her hands through her hair in a vain attempt to stimulate her brain into keeping awake,”  And now I get to pay for it for the rest of the day.  Might have to come up with some potion to help get me through.”

She offered a half smile to the brunette,” I appreciate the tea off though, I’m a bit of a zombie at the moment, and really anything is helpful.”

[spitfire-evans-blog]

xgaspardshingletonx:

Gaspard hummed to himself, considering the question for longer than was probably necessary. “I’m not sure yet,” was his answer. Gaspard was good in potions, but what fun was it to follow a recipe? If you knew what ingredients did what and understood potions quite well…there was a good chance that you could figure out something new, or, at the very least, discover a way that was more effective than what was done before. This is what Gaspard liked about things about inventing. There was no situational drama. Maybe there were certain reactions that changed some things about certain ingredients, but once you knew that reaction, you knew what you’d have. People were not the same. You could say that same thing in the same tone to someone and day-to-day their reaction would change based on their mood, their thought-process, even just the weather. There was no insurance. “I’m just toying around.”

“Toying around?” she echoed, her tone clear that she didn’t think that was the best idea.  If you didn’t know what you were doing, you could very easily injure yourself in some way or another.  She eyed Gaspard a moment, knowing he was likely better at this than most, but still hesitant to believe it was the best plan for his day.

“You’re aware of the dangers of that, I’m assuming?” she said, with a slight frown.  There was no reason beating around the bush about it.  She had watched Sev tinker with potions while they were working together, learning the ways of perfecting each and expanding on the potency, but they were careful and he was a natural in it.  Their own mishaps had thankfully done nothing too serious.  Bettering a potion with directions was vastly different than attempting to create one anew.

[freckledredheadedobsession]