I solemnly swear that I am up to no good

What's the good in being alive if you don't do anything? James Potter, sixth year Gryffindor. Chaser and Quidditch Captain. To your rescue or your demise, your choice.

[that-jamespotter]

Too Much (To Drink)

[eveninglily]

Lily fake-scrunched up her face at him, more amused than annoyed, really. Perhaps it was the effects of the alcohol. She might’ve drunk that a bit too fast.

"Eh it’s fine - fine? Tastes bittery. Bitterier?"

[that-jamespotter]

"Right then, no more turnip wine for you. For anyone ever again. I am never letting that in a party after this. Okay, what's next to drink?" He was already scanning the table for something else. If he was honest, he just didn't want there to be a lapse in the conversation. He'd never needed drink as a crutch before and he got the feeling Remus would say he shouldn't be using it.

[thesexycarrow-deactivated202112]

"Oh, so kind, really. Well, good thing you’re feeling generous, because I’m not, and I wouldn’t let you have it.” Alecto chuckled. “It’s not their fault you didn’t get a girl yet, Potter.”

[that-jamespotter]

"That's what you get from Alecto Carrow. Can't say I'm surprised." James wasn't feeling quite so bad-tempered as usual with Slytherins tonight though. Alcohol either softened him at the edges or made him sharper than one of Lucius Malfoy's dress robes. "Woah, where did that come from? That was unnecessary. Anyway, I don't see you with a guy either."

[that-jamespotter]

Too Much (To Drink)

[eveninglily]

Lily was sort of rethinking her words now, looking at the vaguely purplish liquid(ish) liquor swirling around in her cup. Then Potter’s expectant face popped up, and Lily, perhaps inspired by the taste of alcohol lingering in her throat, gulped the whole thing down in one go.

"What is this stuff? It doesn’t taste vaguely turnip-y."

[that-jamespotter]

"Wow, I couldn't have done that. Nice one, Evans." He swigged his own drink, and then after a moment's hesitation, he downed the rest of it. Might as well follow suit. He could feel the familiar warmth burning down his throat. It reminded him that later he was going to be drunk. It was a friendly reminder.

"Probably more wine than turnip." James laughed at her expression, almost spilling his drink as he pointed at hers. "Not good then?"

[relentlessrita-blog]

Gossip and Firewhiskey || Rita and James

[relentlessrita-blog]

Rita wasn’t nearly as annoyed as she pretended to be. She crossed her arms, tilting her head to one side. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind pointing out another of the not-spiked drinks? It’s a bit early to get buzzed.”

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she scrutinized him. James Potter, sixth year Gryffindor Chaser and Captain, one fourth of the infamous pack of mischief-makers, and forever mooning after Lily Evans. She hadn’t really said much about him beyond his antics with the Marauders, so she figured he’d be one of the safer people to talk to. Safer than Alecto Carrow, at any rate. Rita caught a glimpse of the older Slytherin chatting with some of her housemates, and was glad to be on the other side of the room.

"In fact, I’m a bit surprised you’re not drinking yet, to be perfectly honest. Has the great James Potter finally realized that alcohol makes a person do regrettable things?"

She wondered idly how he had managed to bring the alcohol into the castle. Not that he was the only one to do such things; Rita had a little stash of her own hidden away in her trunk. This, though, was a rather large amount of alcohol to have smuggled in one’s trunk. She didn’t press the issue, though. She wasn’t a prefect, and she certainly wasn’t averse to the idea of alcohol making its way into the castle. It did such wonderful things to the students.

[that-jamespotter]

"I was kidding. I mean there was one bottle with an ageing potion in it but Lockhart picked it up." James' mother always commented how he had such a sweet smile when he was little. It could be such a sincere smile. "It doesn't work immediately. He just wakes up with an extra special hangover. Hopefully he didn't offer to share some with some girl. I don't know how much it requires to work." It hadn't been deliberate that Lockhart picked it up; that had just been beautiful chance to the Marauders' aid once again. "So feel free to whatever you like. Except this one."

"Also, just for the record, I wouldn't spike a drink with something that'd get you buzzed. Not in the normal sense anyway." Get someone so drunk they fall down some stairs? Sounded okay by him. Leave them telling their most embarrassing secrets? Sure. Give them two ears and a tail? Sounds promising. But the thought of someone spiking people's drinks to make them susceptible to real harm? It made his skin crawl.

Everyone knew to take care what you said to Rita Skeeter. But there were some days James just didn't care. He wasn't that bothered by most people's opinions. If people didn't know that Rita's writing was somewhat on the exaggerated side, then they weren't worth bothering about. "I don't know what these 'regrettable things' are, Skeeter. I don't regret things. Besides, I have been drinking. I'm just building it up. Like a snowball. What about you? Are you planning on doing regrettable things?"

Obviously he always checked that Rita never got a hold of any Marauder information which was highly classified from everyone.

[dcfvnct]

Beauty and the Beat || Marlene & James

[dcfvnct]

Dancing with James was easy. Spending so long in the air with someone allowed Marlene to get a handle on how he moved, what his strengths were and what his weaknesses were, however, in her half-drunken state, that wasn’t what she was thinking about. All she cared about was having a good time since, after all, Marlene was best known for filling that role within a party environment. She seemed to have an in-built homing device for dancey music, alcohol and good times.

She couldn’t help but laugh as she almost tripped James up - deliberately or not, she would never tell - and gripped onto his shirt more to steady both of them. The choice of song that was playing in their ears wasn’t to Marlene’s particular style yet she made it work for her as she bounced on her feet in time to it, her blonde hair swaying in the air, occasionally whipping James as she twirled - again, deliberate or not, Marlene would never reveal. After all, she loved to annoy James.

She didn’t exactly know how it happened. Her hands had ended up in James’ hair and her lips were merging with his and the fact that he kissed back only urged her on more and in her sober states he would have probably been turned off by the entire situation, but even she couldn’t deny he was good looking, however her friendship with Lily had always stopped her from pointing that out… unless purposely winding up both parties involved - which, granted, she did almost every single day for her and their other friends’ amusement.

Hearing his question, Marlene broke away from his lips and hid her face against his chest, a fit of giggles escaping from her throat. “I think so! I mean, I was this morning but who knows, someone could have spiked my drink and now I’m someone else! Am I really me and are you really you?” She picked her head up and squinted her eyes at the male, humour etched into every feature, “really, James, who are we really because I wanna know!” After a moment’s pause, she wrinkled her nose and held up a finger, “actually, hold that thought. I just want to dance, thinking stuff can come later!”

[that-jamespotter]

James narrowed his eyes at her playfully as he stumbled slightly. Generally, he just took Marlene to be mischief making, like most people did for him. "What was that for, hu-u-uh? You scared I'm going to show you up on the floor to everyone?

Marlene turned out be a nice kisser, though that wasn't much of a surprise. If he'd ever thought about it, he would've guessed that she was; the thing was, that he hadn't ever thought about it. Marlene was his best friend and a part of his brain protested at how strange it was. The rest of him just went with the flow.

"Stop talking philosophical, Ma-a-arlene." He'd never noticed how much fun it was to elongate the vowels in Marlene's names. His mind dwelled on that for a while, before he shook himself back to the present. He tried to copy Marlene's dancing, emphasising his hip shaking with gusto. For anyone else, it might have been embarrassing, but James didn't care. Even when he would be told the next day how absolutely, downright horrific his dancing was, he'd just shrug and give a second demonstration. Somehow, he managed to pull it off. They say when you dance with confidence and without inhibition, then you can look good. (There were always exceptions.)

"You can't talk philo-philosophical with me. That's my thing. My thing. You can't James Potter me! That's James Pottering James Potter! No. No." He shook his head, reaching towards her and grabbing her hands. "But for the record- record! Geddit? Music record! But yea-a-ah, for the record, you are Marlene." He lifted one arm above her head for her to spin round.  

[coldascarrow-deactivated2015010]

Not wanting to admit that Potter actually had a point, Amycus merely ignored what he said. He rolled his eyes at James’ show of curtsying. Did he ever take anything seriously? It was like being partners with a five year old. “You should consider it an honour to be working with me.” He then turned to the cauldron. “It should be fine, just don’t add anymore, like an imbecile.”

[that-jamespotter]

"That's what I just said, Carrow," he rolled his eyes. Amycus was less fun than Alecto, but also slightly less annoying. He couldn't help comparing them, like everyone else in the school did. "Don't add any more? Wow, I never thought of that. Well, you must be right. What about if I use this?" Innocently, James fumbled about and pretended to randomly pick up an ingredient - a dried newt spleen. He dangled it over the cauldron, looking to the ceiling with a grin. "I can never remember if this would blow it up or if it adds a summer fruits scent to it. Easy to mix up."

[that-jamespotter]

Day 1 || Basics and cosmetic:

Age? 16

Date of Birth? 27 March 1960

Hair color? Black

Eye color? Hazel

Skin color/nationality? White/British

Accent (if any)? Coventry - central English roundabouts

Height? 184cm

Weight? 91kg

Tattoos? There's a little stag silhouette on his shoulder which he meant to go get at a muggle tattoo studio but backed out at the last moment, so instead he put it on with the Marauders with a spell. It was a lot less painful process. He fully intends to go at some point to get a real muggle one though.

Piercings? None. His mum would freak out worse than she would if she knew about his tattoo.

Birthmarks? None

Disfigurements? None

Scars? He has plenty of scars from their trips out with Remus at night. Nowhere near as bad as Remus himself of course, but some things cannot be fixed by yourself and he could hardly ask Madame Pomfrey.

Do they have any nicknames? Where did they come from? Commonly called Potter by teachers and students alike, whether with disdain, admiration or amusement. His other nickname is Prongs, but only the Marauders call him that, originating from his Animagus form as a stag.

[asgardianthunder-archive-bl-blog]

The most in-depth 30 day character development meme you'll ever find.

Because I wanted to see something that really got into the nitty gritty details of a character.

I tried to organize it into sections and equalize the amount of writing you’d be doing each day, but obviously that’s going to vary from character to character. Good luck, and may the force be with you.

Read More

[thesexycarrow-deactivated202112]

"Let me help you with that, Potter." Alecto replied, taking the bottle of firewhiskey. "Now it’s much easier, huh? Berry Ocky Rot or turnip wine only. Doesn’t sound like that hard  to pick. ”

[that-jamespotter]

"Actually that was the one I wanted. I just decided. Right there and then. But I will graciously let you have it. Because I am feeling so kind today." He picked up the Berry Ocky Rot and twisted off the cork, deftly throwing it at a couple who were already deeply engrossed in each in a corner.

[that-jamespotter]

Refuge from the masses || James and Alecto

[thesexycarrow-deactivated202112]

"Your blood may be purer," she granted "but you’re a bloodtraitor since you were born, nonetheless. You have no connections between those who really matter, and you got quite too many of us offended, at some point. So, no matter which blood you have, or how much money - a few may accept you, but not many. And definitely no one would completely believe you’re switching sides.”

He would never be as important as he thought, unless he switched sides and earned the favor of the Dark Lord himself - and that was very unlikely to happen. He had wonderfully rich followers already, and many purebloods from families more important than the Potters. He had those who were absolutely loyal in every piece of them. He had those who were charming enough to get things with a bit more of subtlety, as he had the ones ruthless enough to use violence and force to achieve his goals. More followers would be welcome, surely, but in a favorite position, or in the inner circle? Very unlikely. Potter had nothing someone else, more worthy, could not give the Dark Lord. He could be a good fighter for their cause, but not more.

And the others may accept him, because he was a rich pureblood, but there wouldn’t be many doing so. The ones who were not good enough to win the favor of those already there who were also rich purebloods from old families. But in the end,  they wouldn’t be enough to make him someone prestigious - and again, he would be just a warrior, ant nothing else.

Alecto laughed at his reaction. “So,” she started, ironically. “that only makes you look like a bigger fool. Someone so ridiculous that you know she doesn’t like you, and still you insist - even when she’d give her favor to any other boy but you, even to that Snape kid.” They weren’t friends anymore, she knew, but they were bestfriends before, and Potter hated Snape. Alecto continued, smiling wryly. “That must hurt, huh? Knowing she dislikes you that strongly, when you like her so much? It must be really frustrating, to be chasing the mudblood all those years and not being capable of even being friends with her, still.”

Potter didn’t seem to be thinking about backing down and leaving - but now she didn’t care. It was rather fun, to mess with him like that, and if he stayed too long, well, he’d be dealing with more than one Slytherin very soon.

[that-jamespotter]

James frowned, still not really believing her. Some people stood true to their ideas, but some people didn't and he knew that even if he hated it. Alecto was wrong. Those Death Eaters, like any organisation with a goal, wanted clever people, people with money, people with connections. Besides, he was clever and imaginative, and just a little bit of a genius. Not that he was boasting or anything.

But he reconsidered continuing the argument. "Even if that is the case, it just shows that I've been doing all the right things then. If there is someone I haven't offended yet though, do point them out. I really do love your labels though. I'll just paste it on my forehead, so no one forgets, yeah? Bloodtraitor. Warning. Danger." He traced a finger across his forehead slowly. "And you can have 'Nasty, stuck up brat' on yours. Then everyone's happy."

That thought occurred to him every time he got his hopes up about Lily. He was a fool. That was when he went through phases: sometimes he couldn't get her out of his mind and sometimes he just tried to live his life and avoid her. But it was true. He always came back to her in the end. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do I look hurt? Really broken?" James snarled. This was stupid. But she was right. But it was stupid. "How do you know if she dislikes me so much? I didn't realise you were a bloody mind reader. Or that you were so interested in my fascinating life."

He was caught between leaving and staying. One more push and it would either make him leave or make him fight.

[the-youngest-bones-deactivated2]

"Remus is a genius though or as close to being one as a person can get." She said without looking over her shoulder at him. "So of course they’re not taking his badge away. It’s us average folk that have to worry about it." With a sigh she turned to face him and smiled. "Well don’t just stand there. Grab a mop!"

[that-jamespotter]

"He is. That's true. But don't put yourself down, Bones. You can be a real Prefect too." Jumping to attention, he threw her a salute. "Yes ma'am!" Hopping over to grab one and join in beside her scrubbing away, he grinned sideways at her. "See, you are a good Prefect, even when you're in detention yourself. Is this why we don't have anyone keeping an eye on us? You're keeping an eye on us."

[the-youngest-bones-deactivated2]

"Detention…what kind of prefect gets detention? Merlin, Edgar’s going to kill me when he finds out. Stupid first years…."

[that-jamespotter]

"Remus has had detention before but the teachers still love him. I wouldn't worry about it Bones. Nobody's taking away his Prefect badge." James arrived, almost on time, but leant against the wall, since nobody was telling him to do anything yet.

[that-jamespotter]

Too Much (To Drink)

[eveninglily]

Lily looked at Potter. He was obviously drunk, or high, or both. It was clear that this celebration was winding down, anyway. Lily herself was exhausted, having finally gotten away from Gilderoy Lockhart. The boy was handsome but he never stopped talking!

"I’m not sure about that, Potter… Turnip wine sounds pretty good, actually. Everything all right there?"

[that-jamespotter]

"Seriously? Merlin, what is wrong with you, Evans. Turnips? Turnips? Do you even like turnips? Why would you like turnips?" James finally stopped to take a breath. "But help yourself, I'm not taking it. Let me get you a glass, Evans." He reached over, still in complete control of his hands and deftly popped open the bottle.

[that-jamespotter]

Idle Minds || James & Sirius

[blackstarsirius]

Sirius gave a thoughtful hum in reply and tilted his head to the side in a show of pondering James’ words. “You’re probably right. He probably has just enough magic to transfigure those manacles into full iron cages to put us into if given the opportunity. And watch it starve or something like that,” he mused, only half joking. Filch was just a bit creepy. But Sirius snorted and shook the thought off with a brief laugh, turning onto his front on the couch.

"You really want to join a circus?" Sirius grinned wryly, pillowing his head on the armrest and letting one arm dangle down from the couch. "Granted, we’d be the stars of any muggle circus. We could pull the best disappearing-and-putting-animals-in-our-places act ever. But to be honest, if I had the choice, I’d rather go for the band. Be the next Beatles and all."

His grin faded again, however, at the mere mention of Remus and their difficulties. He huffed and buried his face against the armrest for a moment as if that could get him out of a reply or thinking about it too much. He knew that James had a point, in all the things he said on the topic, but he suspected he was still too proud to listen to him. Eventually Sirius raised his head again and propped his chin up on the armrest, brooding. “Yeah, sure. It’ll sort itself.” It always did, and they were way too much best mates for it not to.

[that-jamespotter]

"Don't say that. Now I'm going to be actually scared when he's chasing us round the castle that I'm going to be snapped up in some magical trap. I'm creeped out now. It's like one of those muggle horror movies we went to see in summer." When Sirius had turned up at the house, James had tried to recruit him on a few day trips to cheer him up. He had been downright terrified.

"Seriously, let's do it. Next summer. That's our last summer holiday. Just for a week or something. Nothing that'll cause headlines." Not that they hadn't caused headline kind of trouble before. But with his father in the Ministry, he couldn't cause the kind of trouble that got wizard kind in trouble. "We just do a disappearing trick with the cloak. They do disappearing tricks right? Nobody would think that's weird. And Transfiguration! But under a cloak - a normal cloak. I'm doing it whether you will or not. It's happening. We can do the band thing too! We can do everything." That was James all over. He wanted to try everything. If he could, and he was going to do his best to do it, he'd cram every exciting idea and activity into his own short lifetime.

"Still, it doesn't hurt if you try and sort it too," James prompted cheerily. A group of boys headed back up to their dormitories, half running, half scrambling up after each other.

[that-jamespotter]

"You know life has reached a good point, where you're faced with the terrible choice of what to drink. Firewhiskey, Berry Ocky Rot, turnip wine...yeah, I think I can cut the last one out of the decision making. Why would anyone make that?" James laughed to himself, tapping the top of each bottle with a spoon (he'd found it in his pocket, though he couldn't remember why it was there).

[dcfvnct]

Beauty and the Beat || Marlene & James

The party was in full swing by the time Marlene had decided to grace it with her presence. It wasn’t be choice, though. The Gryffindor beater was stuck in the library slaving over some class work that she had recently missed. However, far be it for Marlene McKinnon to not show up without an entrance. She pushed the doors open with a flourish and smirked. She waved at a friend before making a beeline to her choice destination: the booze.

It didn’t take long for the blonde to join the mass of dancing bodies and it took even less time to find someone to dance with. Her body moved in time with the beat as she drank her fill of firewhiskey. It would be a cold day in hell before Marlene allowed the fact that she had more homework waiting for her to dampen her party spirit.

After almost an hour of non-stop dancing, drinking and enjoying herself, Marlene tugged her dance partner closer. She then connected their lips with a harsh passion egged on by the alcohol and music.

[that-jamespotter]

James couldn't remember what time he'd arrived. He'd been there early to help set up, had then disappeared and arrived at a suitable fashionably late time with Peter. He didn't know what time it was now. Everything was looking pretty hazy. He didn't know how much he'd had to drink, or the last thing he'd drank even. He didn't know much, except the music that ran through the walls and the floor and up his feet. Alcohol can take an hour to actually take effect, so he'd heard. But he always forgot that when he started drinking and didn't feel immediately drunk, so he kept having a little something more.

He could be a good dancer. He'd been taught how to dance properly when he was younger - his mum seemed to think it was important - but right now, he was just doing whatever he felt like. At least he danced to the beat (or that's what it felt like, but who knew what he looked like to the outside viewer).

James did remember finding himself dancing opposite Marlene. Dancing with Marlene was easy - they'd been friends for longer than he remembered, albeit bickering friends.

James didn't remember how it happened, but suddenly he was kissing Marlene; he kissed her back like he'd done it before, his hands moving to her waist. It took him a few seconds for a small part of his brain to think What am I doing? and pull back. "Ma-arlene?" His head tilted slightly to the side in confusion. "You are Marlene, ri-i-ight?"

[relentlessrita-blog]

Gossip and Firewhiskey || Rita and James

This was the night Rita had been looking forward to since July. It certainly wasn’t the only part of the year, but it was one of the best. The Welcome party was always a night full of interesting happenings. She’d had this planned for a while. Her Transfiguration essay for Monday was already completed, so she would have the entire weekend to focus on her gossip magazine. This year she would not get drunk. Or, at least, she would not get very drunk. It was still a party, and she wasn’t a prude. 

Rita stationed herself in a little nook behind a statue across from the entrance to the party, so she could watch unobserved for a while before actually going in. There was Alecto Carrow looking a bit more angry than usual, Bellatrix Black laughing her head off about who knows what, Lily Evans looking more relieved than anything else, and a cheerful little crowd of Hufflepuffs. The usual crowd, then. Rita peered down the hall, and crept out of her hiding place, satisfied no one was coming.

She snuck into the back of the party, keeping around the near edge of the room. There was already dancing going on in the center of the room, and over by the drinks it looked like Lockhart had managed to trap Evans in conversation. Poor girl. Rita skirted the edge of their conversation, not wanting to draw the blonde’s attention. She did not have time for a three-hour discourse about hair products and fame.

Someone else’s fingers closed around the bottle she’d been reaching for. Indignant, Rita looked up. “Really? You’re really actually going to play like this?”

[that-jamespotter]

So far, the party was going well. It was one of the few times all the houses collaborated together. It was a lot down to some of the more outgoing sorts like the Marauders and him to organise it though. All it required was some mischief. But the rift between Sirius and Remus had unsettled their mischief making and everything they'd tried recently as a group had been half-hearted.

He'd just been about wander over to Evans to see if she'd like to dance - he predicted the answer as no - just as a friend, in a friendly way, with completely friendly intentions. However, Lockhart got there first. Poor Evans. He wondered if he should go over a save her, but a sudden horrible thought appeared - what if she refused to come with him because she'd prefer to listen to Lockhart? That would hurt more than he cared to admit.

Instead, he darted through the groups of people talking towards the drinks tables. Few people were dancing yet; people usually needed to get more drunk for that.

James hadn't actually meant anything by it. But even when it was an accident, he still played it off as deliberate. It got him into trouble, but he'd probably get into trouble anyway - people rarely believed him when he claimed innocence any more. Pulling it away from her reach quickly, he said, "I got half of this alcohol in here. I get to choose what I want. Besides, this one's one of the few that hasn't been spiked. So no offence, but yes, I am." He beamed widely, wondering how seriously she'd take him.