The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (1/2)firstbreathsAugust 7 2011, 06:12:11 UTC
James wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, fingers grasping at air that burns his fingers with all the horror of its silence; even in sleep, Lily is uninhibited and noisy, her body like a pulse point under his fingers, thrumming, murmuring gently and warm to touch.
He gropes for his wand and glasses on the nightstand, swallowing around the sudden dryness in his throat, Lily isn’t, Lily can’t The mere thought of it is like being submerged into an ocean and then pushed, flailing and grasping, back above the waves, all at the same time. It’s -- James doesn’t know, really; it’s so many things that he’s unable to sit still and numb, all at once
( ... )
The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (2/3 -- apparently I can't count)firstbreathsAugust 7 2011, 06:13:23 UTC
James hears a noise downstairs -- so quiet he probably wouldn’t have picked it up, a year ago -- and slips out of bed, padding slowly across the plush carpet. He stows his wand in his pocket; deliberately doesn’t think of Vernon and Petunia upstairs, eschewing the very thing that could save them. The hallway is long and seemingly endless in its silence until he catches a glimpse of Lily, her back to him in the kitchen as she squeezes the juice from an orange, emptying it into a glass. Her t-shirt is crumpled and hangs loose about her shoulders, her smile turned sloppy and wider than he’s seen it in a while
( ... )
The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)firstbreathsAugust 7 2011, 06:14:05 UTC
So he does, crossing the room in two long strides and settling himself behind her, chest to back and chin to shoulder blade, their hands intertwined over the fruit. Lily doesn’t question, just does, turning into his embrace like she was made to be there, folded up and tucked against James like a letter in his breast pocket, a truth only he could hold. James’ heart skips a beat at the easiness of it all; after so long trying to find a moment of solace between ducking spells and waiting for Sirius to leave the flat they all share, he’s thrown out of the frenzied rhythm they’ve come to into a lilting crescendo that, even after so long, still comes naturally
( ... )
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)starry_laaAugust 7 2011, 09:25:24 UTC
Everything about this is beauitful- the title, the three parts and the underlying worrying situation. I loved James waking up alone and momentarily panicking.
I love this line: It’s all too easy to remember a day when hope was Lily Evans maybe thinking of him as something other than an enemy, than an acquaintance, than a friend. When hope was them being together, instead of them being together and hoping that a war wouldn’t make them strangers again.
This one: At eleven, he’d almost wanted to look at anything else because he didn’t understand, at fourteen he couldn’t look at anything else because he understood too well; at nineteen it’s his choice to do either, and yet --
- they're both so beautiful. I loved the description of James seeing her for the first time. I loved him coming to stand behind her and kissing her orange-stained lips. Really, truly gorgeous writing ♥
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)firstbreathsAugust 7 2011, 09:50:02 UTC
Aww, thank you. ♥
That's my favourite thing about these two, really -- so much in a relationship is about how you see the other person, and these two see each other in so many different ways just in the little bits of canon that we get -- as enemies, as friends, as people walking that line between friends and something more, as lovers, as parents. They just <33333
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)con_spireAugust 7 2011, 10:15:59 UTC
This is beautiful. It's so quaint, so silent. The love you illustrated here is a very like-the-back-of-your-hand kind of love. Warm, occasionally volatile, but constant in every way. This James has come to terms with Lily's presence in his life, and he's hoping more than anything he's strong enough to keep her there forever, and it's beautiful. Just, augh love love love <3
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)museme87August 7 2011, 14:32:12 UTC
Like everyone else is saying: this is absolutely beautiful. You put so much thought into these amazing descriptions of Lily and what she means to James. I've no idea how you do it, but please don't ever stop! I loved how simple and down to earth you've made them here. It's such a stark contrast to everything they were during most of their time at Hogwarts--shouting, angry, snappish, etc. There's such an easiness between them and such a touch of normalcy. Really stunning!
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)firstbreathsAugust 7 2011, 22:18:50 UTC
Honestly? I don't know how I do it either?
But thank you so much -- every single one of those pictures you posted was so adorable that I actually had trouble picking which one I wanted to run with.
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)peskywhistpawAugust 7 2011, 15:32:08 UTC
aklfjak, this is just gorgeous! There are so many favorite lines I want to quote back at you, but I feel like they'll be like. Half the fic or something. So I'll settle for the first one I picked up:
James gets it -- the insatiable need for something to do; the feeling that Sirius describes as being Padfoot, with a constant itch in places his paws can’t quite reach to scratch. It settles in all of them, deeper than their skin yet constantly humming, just under the surface.
Guhhh.
I love the real sense of wartime, James's panic in the beginning, and the hints of restlessness they both feel. Great work!
Re: The Night Fell Off Your Mind, PG (3/3)eprimeAugust 8 2011, 19:14:03 UTC
Your prose is so evocative. turning into his embrace like she was made to be there, folded up and tucked against James like a letter in his breast pocket. Really lovely.
He gropes for his wand and glasses on the nightstand, swallowing around the sudden dryness in his throat, Lily isn’t, Lily can’t The mere thought of it is like being submerged into an ocean and then pushed, flailing and grasping, back above the waves, all at the same time. It’s -- James doesn’t know, really; it’s so many things that he’s unable to sit still and numb, all at once ( ... )
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I love this line: It’s all too easy to remember a day when hope was Lily Evans maybe thinking of him as something other than an enemy, than an acquaintance, than a friend. When hope was them being together, instead of them being together and hoping that a war wouldn’t make them strangers again.
This one: At eleven, he’d almost wanted to look at anything else because he didn’t understand, at fourteen he couldn’t look at anything else because he understood too well; at nineteen it’s his choice to do either, and yet --
- they're both so beautiful. I loved the description of James seeing her for the first time. I loved him coming to stand behind her and kissing her orange-stained lips. Really, truly gorgeous writing ♥
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That's my favourite thing about these two, really -- so much in a relationship is about how you see the other person, and these two see each other in so many different ways just in the little bits of canon that we get -- as enemies, as friends, as people walking that line between friends and something more, as lovers, as parents. They just <33333
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But thank you so much -- every single one of those pictures you posted was so adorable that I actually had trouble picking which one I wanted to run with.
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James gets it -- the insatiable need for something to do; the feeling that Sirius describes as being Padfoot, with a constant itch in places his paws can’t quite reach to scratch. It settles in all of them, deeper than their skin yet constantly humming, just under the surface.
Guhhh.
I love the real sense of wartime, James's panic in the beginning, and the hints of restlessness they both feel. Great work!
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Trust me to turn such a sweet looking prompt into something about wartime panic and restlessness, seriously...
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