Tlatpostcards - Alright, Snaps? - Tumblr Blog

James: Is there maybe a tiny (or big) part of you that still has feelings for Lily?

No. And… just no. And even if I did… but no. Of course not. I’ve moved on. Is it warm in here?

So now that you have no friends, Carlotta, how do you spend your hours apart from your boyfriend?

Meditating and improving my mind, body, soul, and magical talents.

And I have friends, just… I mean… whatever.

Carlotta, how do you plan on dealing with all this Shelley nonsense?

You know when there’s a fly in your room, and it’s really annoying, and it’s buzzing, and you think you just can’t ignore it, but you can’t find it either? 

Well, if you pay attention to something else, eventually, you just tune out its futile, meaningless buzzing. And if it should land anywhere near you, you can smash it with a book.

Hint: Shelley is the fly.

Excerpt, Chapter 32

Especially these patrols. This was her third time patrolling with him, and Lily was always left feeling guilty.

He had a girlfriend.

Couldn’t she just… just… forget that she fancied him? Then, spending time with him wouldn’t make her feel like—well, honestly, like the Carlotta to James’s Frank Longbottom.

Damn it all.

Perhaps she’d better steer clear of James Potter for a few days.

Will Lily and James get together before Adam and Marlene?Also, do all of the TLAT questions you get ever annoy you?

A, Yes and no. “Get together” is so broad. But mostly yes.

B, Nah.

Will James know that Lily likes him before December?

Not really. 

Snaps

by Jewels5

(a companion to TLAT and something that fell off my fingertips in about twenty-five minutes)

A nickname—a good nickname—says a lot about the person it is assigned to, but it also says a lot about the person assigning it.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are monikers delineating the alternate forms of the four Marauders—Animagus forms for the last three, and for Remus, his unwilling alter-ego as a werewolf. And how, exactly, can you get more personal than the animal representation of your being? But the really, truly telling part about “Moony,” “Wormtail,” “Padfoot,” and “Prongs” is that the four wizards choose to identify themselves by these potentially revealing nicknames. They choose to use the names that explicate their deepest (and in Remus’s case, darkest) secret. It is a bit risky, really, but that is what makes the nicknames so fitting—Marauders take risks.

Over the years, there are a lot of nicknames.

Almost the instant he begins to notice girls, Sirius Black comes up with “Teeglow”—T.G.L.O.: “The Good-Looking One”—for the fittest girl in their year, Carlotta Meloni.

James Potter arrives at “Flatface” for Roger Diggory, after he notices the Ravenclaw possessing remarkably level features chatting with Lily Evans before their Potions final fourth year.

Adam McKinnon—the only non-Marauder resident of their dormitory—is “Number Five.”

Severus Snape is “Snivellus” (the first nickname). This is particularly apt, as far as James and Sirius are concerned, because it not only accurately describes the git, but it sums up their opinion of him rather well.

Mundungus Fletcher is “Dung.”

Donna Shacklebolt is “Shack.”

Patricia Sorbetski is “Strawberry” (“As in Tart,” Sirius always faithfully adds.)

However, for the longest time, James doesn’t call Lily anything but “Evans.”

And it’s funny, because almost the first time they meet, it occurs to him that there are a great many nickname possibilities for this girl with the bright red hair and gigantic green eyes. Plus, each and every nickname has the potential of absolutely infuriating Lily, and that is an opportunity that James rarely passes up.

The truth, though, is that no casually cast handle describes Lily quite right. None of them capture Lily Evans, and none of them taste quite right rolling off James’ tongue—not the way “Evans” does.

(It’s a little frustrating, actually, but then again, everything about Lily Evans is at least a little frustrating.)

They meet first on the Hogwarts Express. She enters and exits the compartment with Snivellus, and only a few, scathing words are exchanged. They are just eleven, and Sirius doesn’t give the meeting a second thought, except perhaps where it pertains to his own House situation. James gives the meeting quite a few second thoughts, though, and he doesn’t know why, but he can’t help glancing after her as she hurries away with Snape, and he can’t help trying to chat with her later in the afternoon, and he can’t help feeling just a bit let down that she doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with him. Sirius may not give the meeting much of a second thought, but James gives it about two dozen second thoughts over the next few months.

But he doesn’t say as much, because they are just eleven, and he does not quite know what to do with the strange panging in his chest that takes effect whenever Lily sends him a withering glare; whenever she is thoroughly unimpressed by the antics that do not fail to garner everyone else’s admiration; eventually, whenever she rejects one of his falsely careless Hogsmeade invitations.  

He tries a few nicknames throughout fifth year, at the height of Lily’s loathing for him.

“Oi, Legs!” earns him a death threat. “Ginger,” has her rolling her (fantastically) green eyes, as if to sarcastically say, “Very original.”

He calls her “Saint Charity,” for hanging around with Snape, and she smacks him.

So, most of the time, she’s just “Evans…” or “L.E.” scribbled across parchment after his Defense O.W.L. She doesn’t know about that, though, and he’s glad of it.

(He doesn’t want to change for her. He doesn’t want to be pathetic and try to be whatever it is that he secretly thinks that she secretly wishes he were. He wants to forget what she says after she says it, rather than have her voice linger in his brain indefinitely. He wants to feel nothing when she smiles and to possess a scroll of Transfiguration notes that doesn’t have those stupid initials doodled in the corner).

At the beginning of sixth year, there’s a fight, and it’s all James’s fault. He punches Nicolai Mulciber, and one thing leads to another, and later, he’s squabbling with Evans about it.

“You can’t just sit around and let people say whatever the hell they want, Evans.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what you can do, Potter! Haven’t you ever heard of ‘sticks and stones?’”

“It’s called standing up for the right thing, Evans!”

“But you have to pick your battles!”

Maybe she’s right. Maybe he shouldn’t have punched Mulciber, even though the git inevitably had it coming. Maybe he should have let Evans sort out the little spat in her own, less violent way.

Still, he’s not about to back down and tell her the truth.

The truth is that he saw Mulciber fighting with Lily, and something inside of him just snapped.

It’s what always happens: he doesn’t mean to always say the wrong thing to her, to make her hate him, to feel intensely bitter towards her prat boyfriend, to punch blokes that speak unkindly to her. It just happens: the part of his brain that is logical and reasoning snaps when it comes to Lily Evans.

It’s about a week later that he finds her in the library, talking to herself as she plods through homework, and his heartstrings don’t just tug, but altogether snap at the sight of her.

They’re bantering twelve seconds later, but not in a friendly way—he’s glad she’s speaking to him at all the way he’s behaved, but she’s just vexed. At some point, a nickname pops into his brain, and it’s as he’s leaving that he uses it.

“Relax, Snaps, it’s not as though…” He finishes with some jab at her, and she rolls her eyes, a sarcastic remark rising to her lips, until she seems to realize that he’s called her something foreign, and she breaks off mid-sentence, with:

“…What did you call me?”

He only grins and adds: “See you around, Snaps,” before he departs.

James can feel her scowling after him.

He continues to call her “Snaps,” for about a week. It annoys her, because she can’t seem to figure it out, and every time she breathes a deep, calming breath, or tries to look as though she doesn’t care, he can tell that her irritation with him is growing. He wants her to ask what the nickname means, and he knows she knows he wants her to ask. She doesn’t break though—not really.

On Friday, she tries to get it out of Sirius, but even Sirius doesn’t have a clue what it’s about—why after five steady years of “Evans,” she’s finally got a proper nickname—and he doesn’t really inquire. For Sirius, it’s just another of James’s Lily Things that he has come to accept (and ignore) over the years.

Saturday night, they’re arguing in the Common Room again.

“The extent of your self-righteousness never fails to amaze and bewilder me, Snaps.”

“The ABCs never fail to amaze and bewilder you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry… what did you get on your O.W.L.s again? Was it… seven O’s? Wait. No. That was me.”

“My Merlin, really? I don’t think you told anyone yet… except for once every ten minutes since you stepped onto the platform!”

“At least I have something to brag about.”

Lily exhales heavily, bored and worn out. “This is stupid. I’m not doing this anymore. I’m not fighting with you. I’m not talking with you. I’m ignoring you. Everyone will be so much better off if we just don’t interact.”

“Fine with me, Snaps,” he lies, and the fun of annoying her (getting her attention) has gone.

She turns to storm away with all appropriate drama, and he hopes she doesn’t mean it. Fortunately, the witch pauses before she reaches the staircase up to the dorms. She halts for a full five seconds, and then turns back to face James.

"Gingersnaps,” she says.

James isn’t quite sure what she’s talking about. He stares back at her, blinking and confused.

“Gingersnaps…” she repeats. “Ginger-biscuits… the desert.“ She points to her hair. "Ginger. Snaps.”

It’s another moment before James realizes that she thinks she’s figured out the nickname.

 "Clever,“ she says.

It would be, he supposes.

But he can’t possibly explain what it’s all about really. He can’t explain about hitting Mulciber or the fact that he only ever says incoherently stupid things to her, or that he doodles her name on parchment like a love struck twelve-year-old witch. And so he grins.

“Bravo.”

“I should have known it involved food,” she remarks, and her hair swishes and shines when she turns to retreat up the stairs to the dormitory.

Her voice echoes like a song stuck in his head, and his chest gives a pang and a snap.

So he decides not to correct her.

Because this particular nickname might say a little too much about the person assigning it.

Excerpt

“Oh, I didn’t mean that to sound mean,” Prudence added quickly. “I just meant—I know that he used to. He didn’t say so, but—I guess we could all guess as much. And I know that you must have known…”

“I…”

“A girl always knows,” Prudence interrupted softly, and Marlene broke off. 

-Chapter 32

Donna Shacklebolt had beautifully angry eyes. Clear and brown—well, not exactly brown… orange-ish, really, almost like amber—they could traverse the distance between burning rage and cold spite in the time between blinks, and there was something fascinating about that.

-Chapter 32

I am here to make a prediction in regards to the prologue. I have thought for quite some time now that it was Harper. I still do. However, in reading Chapter 27 I have concluded that Lily has a touch of the seer about her. This dream she has (not the sex dream although I reckon that could be a prophecy too), with Sirius and Reg and they're all "He's dead, read the letter, you know who it was etc etc". I believe this dream to be slightly prophetic. In my head, Luke sends er some sort of letter whilst in the depths of mental instability. She isn't too sure who sent this mad letter although she has an inkling it's Luke. She doesn't say anything to James (her boyfriend) and then he gets attacked (by Luke) and ends up unconscious in the Hospital Wing. It is one of those tragic ordeals where they don't know if he will wake up and Lily is wracked with guilt cause she reckons it's her fault and she hasn't even told him she loves him yet. He wakes up though, she tells him she loves him. All is well. I have been home alone, bored stiff all day and I read too much fan fiction. Have a great day/night.

Publishing for one and all to read, ‘cos it ain’t too bad a theory =P

Sirius/Remus/Peter, why won't you tell James about Lily's feelings?

Remus: She asked us not to! To violate that would be a complete betrayal!

Peter: Remus won’t let me.

Sirius: It’s all about timing, mate. Tell him too soon and everything’s just awkward and people start fighting and it utterly destroys all the happy feelings in the Common Room. And that’s bad for my digestion. It’s all about timing.

Remus: AND about honoring our promise.

Sirius: Right. Whatever.

Remus: Padfoot.

Sirius: Right, fine, honor. Promises. Chivalry. 

You shouldn't give me this free reign on asking questions. I'll flood your inbox. But this one is to Lily: If you though James loved you back, would it be worth getting him if you break someone else's (Carlotta) heart? Does Carlotta have this coming, since she did it to Alice/Frank first?

Don’t get me wrong–I believe in karma. But I thought it was wrong when Carlotta did it to Alice, and it would be wrong if I did it to her. Is it slightly gratifying that Shelley’s trying to? Yes. Although, it’s much more obnoxious.

Carlotta, Shelley, Donna: How do you feel about how Lily handled the dorm drama on the first night back?Remus, Sirius, Peter: What do you think of the aforementioned drama?

Donna: It’s always nice when I’m not the one who has to tell people they’re being idiots.

Shelley: Rude. And none of her business.

Carlotta: No, she had a point. Judgmental, loud, and over-stepping her bounds, yes, but… she had a point.

Peter: Would this technically be a love square?

Sirius: Rectangle. 

Remus: I think it’s more of a point with three lines intersecting…

Sirius: That’s way too detailed.

Peter: Either way, it’s way too complicated and… noisy

Sirius: Lily should’ve hexed them.

Remus: not advocating violence, but… maybe…

Sam, why did you pick Lily of all people to be your penpal? No way is she the only other single person you know.

Lily’s fun. She uses big words and she’s mates with my cousin… I thought it would be a laugh. It was just a whim. I don’t know…

donna are you in love with lathe?marly when are you going to tell adam that you love him?

Donna: Don’t make me laugh. I mean, yes, he’s obviously attractive, and compared to the silly immature blokes at Hogwarts he’s… but… no. Shut up. Go away.

Marlene: If I ever lose my mind. God, I mean I rejected the poor bloke. How much of an awful human being would I have to be to go after him now that he’s finally happy with a girl?

James, what makes you so sure that you've moved on from Lily?

Well if I can’t be trusted to know, who can be? Damn it, I have. Why does no one believe me?

James, what would you think if Lily dated someone else? Would you feel anything...jealousy or something? What would you do if she did?

Lily is allowed to do whatever she likes. 

I don’t care. Honestly.

Reg: Lily or Mary?

Mary’s my mate. You always pick your mates, right?

Mary, would you rather go to Hogsmeade with Stebbins or Reg?

I would rather go with Stebbins.

More places to hide the body.

Lily, if (when) James and Carlotta break up would you be willing to go to James about your feelings?

…

I don’t know.

That’s awfully official.

And scary.

And hypothetical.

Ahem.

Lily: when are YOU going to buck up and get yourself a lay... from james potter that is?

Hmmmm, a bit outta my hands, I think.

Sadly.

I didn’t say that. You heard nothing.

Mrs. Potter just how often does James talk about Lily Evans?

Not so much anymore.

And almost never directly to me.

But when he and Sirius were little tykes, they weren’t nearly as stealthy as they imagined…

James: We know when and why you supposedly stopped your obsession with Lily, but when and why did you start? First year because of her pretty eyes? Fifth year because she was a prefect and you were a masochist? The people want answers!

Okay, I admit–it was probably first year.

But it’s not like there was some big, epic moment that I remember. It’s not like I remember the particular instant where I just… I dunno… was standing in queue outside potions when she was fighting with Gregory Smythe because he was taking the mickey out of Snivellus, and Smythe ended up crying, and she was just…

Anyway it wasn’t anything like that.

James, how do you think Lily looked at Alice and Frank's Wedding?

*Cough*

Very nice.