I am surprised that adults write that Slytherin is a faculty for bad children. At 11 years old. Apart from Draco, there were no Slytherin death eaters, well, maybe two more of his friends, and during Slughorn's time, half of Slytherin, but many adore Slughorn because he is a good teacher.
You mean jkr? Yeah I mean again, the first books were for children with clear black-and-white characters. It's overly simplistic and she didn't ever fix it by making the main characters really discuss the House issue amongst themselves.
Slughorn, like every Hogwarts teachers before the first war, is an irresponsible moron. But since he was Head of Slytherin, I think he's even more to blame for his inaction (except like, Dumbledore). Honestly, I think he was just too self-centered to notice. He wasn't interested in his students (except the super talented ones for the Slug Club) or in his job as a guardian.
Because this is what the teachers are, in a boarding school like Hogwarts: guardians.
I don't know if this was ever written in their job description but clearly none of them gave a shit.
James and Lily come and go and in between is Sirius, who tells himself he is okay having his bestfriend whatever way he can or it is somewhat until James gets pregnant, in the middle of the war and suddely things are far from okay.
James is on him the second he walks in the flat, kissing him like his life depends on it. He and Lily must be broken up again. This happens every few weeks. The stress of the war has everyone pressing hard on their relationships, and James and Lily fight more often than not. Even when they're dating, it's like they can't help but snipe at each other in some attempt to have control over their lives when the war takes so much away.
Sirius kisses him back, pushing all thoughts of Lily and the war out of his mind. James always kisses with everything he has. There's never been a time when James has kissed him half-heartedly, and he loves it.
They stumble their way into Sirius's bedroom, and he fucks James into the mattress.
They cuddle afterwards. They always do. James isn't a fuck-'em-and-leave-'em guy to begin with, but he especially wouldn't do that to his best mate. They're not dating when he and Lily are in the off part of their relationship, they're just friends with benefits. And they cuddled before they started having sex, so of course James stays over afterwards and they sleep in the same bed and have breakfast together in the morning. They are still flatmates, after all.
Sirius aches for it to be real. He wants to have all of this and a little more. He wants that final step into calling James his boyfriend. They could die any day between their jobs as aurors and their work for the Order, and he doesn't want to leave any regrets behind. But he knows that James doesn't love him. Not like that. He would take the chance except James always goes back to Lily. That's a clear declaration of his feelings.
So he fucks James and kisses him and pets his hair as they lie naked, intertwined, and wishes he could have it all.
*
When Sirius hears James crying in the loo, his first thought is 'who died?'. Those are the sort of times they live in. Sirius hates it, but that's the reality of their situation. Marlene's death still feels all too fresh, and when he knocks on the door, he expects to get the news of someone else. Dorcas? Frank and Alice? Merlin, he doesn't even want to think it, but what if something happened to Lily? His heart drops to the floor, and he takes a steadying breath.
"James? Let me in."
Instead of the door opening, James says, "No."
Sirius blinks at the door, uncomprehending. There's no such thing as 'no' in their relationship, never has been. Lily and Peter both hold that there should be, but there isn't. They feed into each other, for better or worse. And now, of all times, James is going to keep him out? "What do you mean 'no'? Let me in."
"I don't want to," James says, then sobs.
Sirius ignores that and tries the handle. It's not locked.
His heart lurches. James is a mess, sat on the edge of the tub with his glasses off and tears streaking down his cheeks. "I can't do this," he cries, shoulders shaking.
Sirius joins him, rubbing a hand against his back. "Whatever it is, we'll handle it together. Like always, yeah?"
He shakes his head, and there's something frantic about him that Sirius doesn't quite understand. If someone's dead, it's horrible, but why would he try to shut Sirius out because of it? It doesn't make any sense. It brings him hope that maybe it's not as bad as James thinks, and it really will be something they can deal with instead of mourning people they couldn't help.
"Talk to me," Sirius says quietly. "I can't help if I don't know what's happening."
James keeps shaking his head.
"James, talk to me." He's desperate now, and in no mood to guess, but he'll do what he has to. He scoots closer and wraps his arm around James's shoulders. James falls into his chest. "Did someone die?"
"No." He's shivering.
"Was someone captured?"
"No."
"Then what is it?" Sirius's mind whirls, trying to think of what else could get this reaction from him. He's not prepared for what James tells him.
"I'm pregnant." He sobs again, the sound wrenching from his throat and scraping him raw. "I don't know what to do. Sirius-" his hands fist in Sirius's robes "-what do we do? We're in the middle of the war- and Lily- we can't have a baby!"
He holds James, because that's all he can do. What is he supposed to say? He's never felt at a loss of words when it comes to James, but he is now. He can't say that everything's okay-- it's not. He can't say anything about the situation with Lily because he has no idea how she'll react to the news. He says the only thing he can, the only thing he's sure of, "I'll be with you the whole time."
"I can't do this," he wails.
"Yes, you can. We can do this together." Sirius has no idea how to work this out, but they'll deal with it because there's nothing else to be done about it.
He holds James until he's finished crying. He holds him while he shakes and whispers over and over that he can't do it, and Sirius promises him that they can.
"I'm sorry," James mutters, once he's pulled himself back together.
"Sorry for what? Being pregnant? It's not like we planned this."
"That's exactly what I'm sorry for," he says, still mumbling through his words. "I should've been sure I was taking the contraceptive potion."
It looks like he's about to start crying again, so Sirius kisses his forehead and rubs his back. "Do you want to move to the living room? A bit more comfortable there." They've been sitting on the tub's edge for so long that his legs have gone stiff.
James nods, and Sirius helps him to his feet.
"Do you know how far along you are?"
"No idea. We've been so sporadic..."
"Yeah." They sit on the couch, and James crawls into his lap.
"I know you don't love me, but-"
"Stop right there," Sirius interrupts. "Of course I love you."
"You're not in love with me."
"Well." He swallows thickly. "You're not in love with me."
"I wouldn't say that," James mutters, and Sirius's heart skips a beat.
"What do you mean?"
James shakes his head, but Sirius isn't about to let him off the hook.
"James..." He tilts James's head up to meet his eyes. "I love you. No offense, but I wouldn't sleep with any of my other friends because they're upset over a breakup. Just you."
"You don't mean that. You can't mean that. You're saying it because I'm pregnant."
"I'm telling you because you're pregnant. I've thought this whole time that you were in love with Lily and I was convenient, but James- if you love me too, we can have everything. We can get married and have this baby and be a family. I want all of that with you, but you know that I'll be there for you even if you say no." It would break his heart, but he'd still be there for him. "You don't have to love me for me to raise this baby with you. No matter what else happens, you're still my best friend."
"I love you." James presses his lips to Sirius's suddenly, desperately. "I love you too. Please, everything you just said that's what I want. I want you and me, I want a family."
"Hey, shh, it's okay. It's okay, James. Just breathe, we can figure this out. Together."
"Together," James echoes, kissing him again, softer this time.
*
James is showing now. His stomach, once flat and toned, is now swollen round with the baby. He's the one comforting Sirius this time. They got news of his brother's death. Him and Regulus weren't close, hadn't even spoken in years, but it's still his brother.
Sirius's hand is rubbing over James's stomach near compulsively.
"What're you thinking?" James asks quietly.
"What if I die?"
"Don't even say it. You'll be fine."
"But if I did, you and the baby would be all alone." Sirius can't help but think about it, when James is benched but he's still out there every day, without his best partner there to watch his back. "Everyone's dying, and it could be me next. I want to know that you'd be okay."
"I wouldn't be," James says bluntly. "You're the one person I can't lose, Sirius. I need you. The baby needs you; I can't raise them alone." He wants Sirius to quit his job. They're both still working for the Order of course, and that is even more dangerous some days, but it's not like they can stop. But Sirius can stop being an auror.
"And Merlin willing, you won't have to," he whispers. "Regulus was so bloody young. He was still in Hogwarts, and us-" He breaks off.
"I know," James says, because he does.
It sucks. Everything sucks. They're married, and it was a happy occasion, but it was tinted with sadness by the reminder of their friends that couldn't be there-- Order business or already dead. They're having a baby, which should be even happier, and yet they're spending the whole pregnancy terrified of what'll happen. They're vulnerable like this.
They're all so bloody vulnerable.
James pulls him into a slow kiss, the kind that curls his toes and reminds him how much James loves him. "Together. No matter what happens, we're doing it together. You promised, remember?"
Sirius nods. When they found out James was pregnant, Sirius made that promise. He swore to never leave him alone, to always help him, to be there with him for every single step of the pregnancy, and then being a parent. "Together," he whispers, kissing him again.
what if after the first war remus killed himself because for the first time in years he had to be alone, he thought he had lost everyone, thought that sirius would never get out
so when sirius escapes he doesn’t know remus is dead, the first place he goes is remus’ cottage, only to find it abandoned, so he does some digging only to find his best friend (boyfriend?) dead.
Question, but what's the actual timeline prior acotar?
Sure, the war ended 500 years ago, but when did it start? How long did it last? Which Court fought for and against human slavery particularly in Prythian and beyond it? Was there in-fighting between the courts prior across boarders and causing political rifts between each High Lord and other nations? Which court did this main war take place? And who used the Cauldron to construct the wall in the first place?
Another question in relation to the characters.
Mor, how does her character work in the context of the book? She was known as The Morrigon, meaning she fought in war. Was cannon that she was there that even the human queens know of her, but why would she be there in the first place when she's Kiers daughter and its told that CoN is pretty misogynistic, so I'm sure there's no way in hell he'd allow his daughter to be a warrior. He still scares her in the present day, so why would he agree for her to join a war rather than staying back with the other women trapped in CoN where she can remain monitored?
Also, randomly, wtf if her power? I don't understand what "Truth" means or how it manifests and displays itself into something concrete/physical or mental.
Moving on...
We're told Tamlin betrayed Rhysand (we don't have Tamlin’s back story yet from his perspective) and that he used the information Rhysand had given due to them being friends at the time. Now, how on earth did this friendship begin? How long were they even friends for for Rhysand to have supposedly taught him about women and how to fight? How solid had the friendship been?
Speaking of these two, when exactly did they become High Lords of their courts? It can't have been for 500 years because that was the end of the first war, and Tamlin was still a child at the time. Has it only been 200 years...300...400 in actuality? 🤔
And then there’s Lucien’s timeline. How old is he? How long has it been since he was basically granted asylum in Spring? Seeming he was banished and would be hunted if he stepped foot back in the Autumn Court, did that mean Tamlin used someone else as emissary if he ever had to deal with Baron? Who is this person? Where are all the other offical delegates and Lords and those who hold some standing in any of the courts?
Speaking of missing people, who is this other daemati? Where is this other daemati? Did he, she, it even exist? Can anyone else, Jurian, for example, point them out seeming he had been attached to Amarantha's finger for centuries and saw/heard everything?
How and when did Amren escape the prison. How did Rhysand come across her? Why did she bother staying in Prythian and not go back to where she originally came from? Is she stuck? Wtf even is she if we now know she's not Asteri?
Wtf is now happening with Hybern? The King's is dead now...so? You're telling me he didn't have a council or others there ready to take over? Is there currently a power struggle? Are they potentially a threat in the future?
Why do so many characters lack surnames and other family members don't exist?
In this world, there's now been 4.5 books. Further world building could have easily been implentated to close a few gaps.
Lots of questions. I don’t care if you're pro or anti for this post. Someone, please provide me with something or theory, because I'm left filling in the gaps. I feel like I'm thinking too hard with these books when I really shouldn't take anything seriously.
half way through Moody March (in microfics, I know it’s the 30th today ;)
And we’re 2 weeks and a day down! Sorry this one is a day late, had stuff to do ;-)
@jilymicrofics Contemptuous (which is a very Sirius Black word if there ever was one ;-)
Read yesterday's micro Deja Vu on ao3.
"Run, Lily, I'll cover you," Sirius Black shouted and Lily didn't argue.
Their mission was supposed to be a dud, pretend to be a loving couple out for drinks. The barman had looked through them, his face bland and uninterested. Still, they had ordered their shots of Firewhisky and sat at a table. Well, he was clearly imperiused for the Death Eaters had shown up before they could have so much as a sip of their drinks. Ill-timed bastards.
They hid under the table for a while, the chaos of the full-out brawl shielding them more than the wood. Until an explosion set most of the bar on fire and they were forced to move out.
Apparition was impossible.
Lily sucked in a breath as she saw six hooded figures working to take out drunk wizards and witches one by one. They worked systematically. As if they were looking for something specific.
That's when she realised, "They’re looking for us. Someone told them we'd be here."
Sirius cursed out loud and threw a complicated series of hexes that forced three of them to leave their positions. He pushed her out of their hiding place and told her to run, so that's what she did.
