Reasons Why I (And A Lot Of Other People) Ship Jeverus
(Note: If anyone who disapproves of this ship finds this post, I put in all the appropriate tags, so please blacklist them if you don’t want to see Jeverus content. Also, be warned, there will be some canon-based James-bashing in this.)
Ok, so I was thinking about why exactly I (and most of us) ship Jeverus. Now, it’s not surprising that a lot of Jeverus shippers are pro-Severus Snape, and a good number of us actually hate James Potter for that very reason (we can all agree that James Potter was an entitled, cruel asshole throughout his life). And, in canon, James and Severus have an abusive relationship, a bully/abuser and victim relationship. But we still ship them, for some reason? The Jeverus fics I’ve read explore character growth and dynamics in a way I rarely see in many other Marauders-era fics. They have the best characterisation of Severus Snape I’ve ever seen, with all his skills and quirks and flaws and soft spots and small joys, depicting more of his character than just someone who “pined hopelessly after Lily”, and they don’t romanticise James Potter and show many aspects of him, they flesh out both the characters amazingly. So it’s clear that the people who ship Jeverus have an in-depth understanding of both these characters, their relationship, and what their relationship could be.
Firstly, the way I ship them is that James Potter goes through a redemption arc. James sees his actions clearly, and realises what a huge dick he is to Severus. This leads to guilt and then a long process of apologising and trying to make it up to Severus, and, of course, he wants to actually be his friend soon enough cuz he genuinely likes him. Severus still hates James of course, and it takes ages for him to realise that James is being sincere in his apologies and that he actually does want to befriend Severus. Then they become friends and then of course it’s the natural friends-to-best friends-to-lovers progression, where they both realise they’re in love with each other and have been forever, and spend ages mentally battling with themselves, because James is scared of ruining their friendship and of hurting Sev and that Sev won’t return his feelings and it’s not like he’d expect Sev to after everything James has done, and Sev is scared of ruining their friendship and that James will hurt Sev and that James won’t return his feelings (but James is actually being sincere and kind and a bit of a dork and the boy actually does have a sense of compassion and a brain, and Severus doesn’t want to notice all this but he can’t help it when James is practically drowning him in affection, no one’s ever gone to such lengths for Severus before). Then hijinks and yelled-out confessions and both their friend groups becoming matchmakers and James going to extreme lengths whilst courting Severus, leading to James and Severus finally getting together. I mean, let’s not forget the whole “James saved Severus’ life” thing. Don’t get me wrong, I 100% know James just did it so that Remus and Sirius wouldn’t get put in Azkaban, and not out of the goodness of his heart or anything. But if I view it through this narrative I have set up, then James is guilty af and maybe this is when he starts feeling like the Marauders have gone much too far. Killing Severus was never in the plan. This jump-starts his sense of guilt, and he tries to fight his feelings of guilt and self-disgust by starting the SWM thing. Afterwards he realises he’s gone too far again, and he kinda goes through a mental breakdown, re-evaluating all the shit he and the Marauders have done to Severus the last few years. He keeps trying to justify it……but then he remembers how frantically Severus apologised to Lily after calling her a Mudblood. He remembers how absolutely broken Severus looked after SWM. He remembers the real fear in his eyes when Remus nearly killed him. He remembers how small and broken he looked everytime the Marauders hurt him. He remembers how Severus is just a small, quiet boy who just minds his own business and it’s the Marauders who keep going after him. He’s suddenly realising that he and the other Marauders are at fault. All of this jolts him, and thus brings about a series of revelations that boil down to (1) Severus Snape isn’t a bad person and doesn’t deserve all the shit he’s had to endure from the Marauders and (2) the Marauders have been absolute dicks to Severus Snape and James needs to apologise and make it up to him. It starts out as James wanting to make things right with Sev, but then he genuinely wants to become friends, and it escalates from there.
Now when I thought of it this way, I realised that I love watching James struggling with these new feelings and him pursuing Severus and earning his forgiveness, etc. Idk, for some reason having James falling for Severus is probably the best kind of punishment for him. Not because Severus is horrible or ugly or anything (I don’t believe any of that), but because this is James’ heart going against everything he believed to be true, everything he ever expected. For once, things aren’t going James Potter’s way. And he’s sabotaged himself by bullying the object of his affections for years. And now he needs to suffer the consequences of his actions cuz they’re affecting his own life, his own happiness, directly! James will have to emotionally suffer in order to (a) get Severus to forgive him, (b) get Severus to be his friend, and © get Severus to fall in love with him. On the way he’ll have to stop his bullying behaviour, change his view on Slytherins, and grow out of his sense of entitlement. So yeah, Jeverus is the best way for James to finally lose his bravado, suffer a lot in a very specific and personal way, and ultimately become a better person, while also making Severus feel loved. So yeah, it’s cathartic.
Another thing is their respective “love” for Lily. I always thought James’ “love” for Lily was just him wanting to be the one to finally “win” her, since she’s “hard-to-get”. James never had feelings for Lily, he just wanted to brag about the fact that he had finally gotten her to date him. He never respected her rejections and just kept pursuing her without her consent. Having Sev being the object of his affections will teach him about boundaries. And Sev’s love for Lily seemed platonic to me. Maybe he and Harry and Dumbledore and all thought it was romantic love, but to me it seemed more like a lonely boy who couldn’t tell the difference between romantic love and platonic love, and just wanted to keep his only friend. Severus was too dependent on Lily, so I think getting with James Potter would be good for Sev, since Sev will feel wanted, like somebody’s willing to fight for him, with James. Of course, I still want Sev and Lily to stay best friends, just with less dependence and more camaraderie and open affection for each other, like they were pre-Hogwarts.
Now this next reason is more observational, and may venture into hc territory. Let’s face it, James Potter is canonically a bit obsessed with Severus Snape. Negative or positive, it’s still obsession. He literally pursues Severus to bully him more than he pursues Lily to ask her out! And his bullying behaviour and constant insistence that he bullies Severus “because he exists” kinda makes me think of alternative reasons. “Pigtail-pulling” comes to mind (AKA bullying someone cuz you have a crush on them). James seems like the type of guy who’d torment their crush to simultaneously get their attention and prove to themselves and the world that he doesn’t like them. We all know that sometimes boys who are attracted to other boys showcase toxic masculinity so they can reassure themselves that they don’t like guys. This seems like a very James thing to do tbh, internalised homophobia causing him to exhibit toxic masculinity to cover up the fact that he’s in love with Severus. I can honestly see this being the reason he bullied Severus so much. He was ashamed of his feelings for a boy, much less a poor, conventionally unattractive Slytherin boy. I feel like that’s why he pursued Lily so fervently; he was trying to prove to himself and the world that he’s straight. Plus liking Lily could be used as an excuse. He can simply act like he’s jealous of Severus and that’s why he’s so obsessed with him, not because he’s in love with him. Idk, all this seems so real to me once I think about it, as if it actually happened in canon. Either way, James Potter is probably bi/gay/etc. and has internalised homophobia, and he constantly bullies Severus Snape to prove to himself that he hates him, when in actuality he’s in love with him. The “crush” on Lily is a cover-up to mask his feelings for Severus and to convince himself and everyone else that he’s obsessed with Sev cuz he’s jealous of him, not cuz he’s in love with him, and to convince himself and everyone else that he only likes girls. At least, that’s how I see it😅
Another, more symbolic thing is their Patroni. James’ Patronus is a stag. Severus’ Patronus is a doe. And of course we know that the books say that Severus’ Patronus is a doe cuz he loves Lily, but I hc that his Patronus was always a doe. It just suits him better. Does are alert, skittish, sensitive, careful, they’re always on the lookout for danger, they’re the easiest prey (for bullies, in Sev’s case). Lily is fierce, protective, and quick-tempered, so I think a lioness should’ve been her Patronus, but I digress. I just believe that Sev’s Patronus has always been a doe. James’ Patronus being a stag is perfect, since stags are proud, bold, and showy. And a stag (James) and a doe (Severus)? Compatible af. Soulmates. It’s just one of my favourite Jeverus hcs.
If you look at their personalities, they’re highly compatible. They differ but they’re also similar (much like Gryffindors and Slytherins in general). I’ve read countless Gryffindor/Slytherin posts, and they really do mirror Jeverus. Slytherins reign in Gryffindors’ impulsive, reckless instincts, while Gryffindors bring out Slytherins’ sense of competitiveness so they can shine instead of hiding their abilities. Gryffindors and their grand schemes would mix perfectly with Slytherins and their ability to execute these grand schemes with subtlety and cunning and finesse. Gryfferin ftw❤️💚👏🏼👌🏼 James is bold and loud and impulsive and showy, while Severus is careful and intelligent and clever and a perfectionist. James can bring out Severus’ passion and skill, while Severus can reign in some of James’ more destructive qualities. Not to mention the fact that James is rich and has a warm, loving family, and if he and Sev get together then James can buy Sev new quills, books, robes, and all sorts of gifts, and bring him over to his comfortable, warm house, where Sev will finally be doted over by a warm, loving family. James and Severus are a perfect fit. James has everything, except a good personality. In falling in love with and being with Severus, James will become a better person, get to be with the love of his life, and be happy. Severus has nothing in terms of material items or status or a warm, loving home environment. In falling in love with and being with James, Severus will get all that, get to be with the love of his life, and be happy. So James and Severus are in love with each other and happy, and everyone’s happy!
So yeah, basically, the reasons I and other people ship Jeverus are that James and Severus will both grow in the process of getting together due to James redeeming himself and Severus getting the love and affection he deserves, are perfect together, and complete each other! :3
this is very interesting, and the exact opposite of what I thought a bully/victim ship would be! Thank you for sharing OP :) Lioness patronus for Lily also makes a lot of sense. In what way was she like a doe?
@st-severus Glad you found it interesting! I enjoy analysing the ships I like, it’s fun!😊
@https://landing-amongst-the-planets Hi, you mention in your post, about you read about, Gryffindor/Slytherin posts, and they really do mirror Jeverus. can you tell me some of them?, so I can read them too, I am very interested.Yes, I love the James/Severus ship, they are fascinating people, and there is so much to explore. Blessings, big hug
