The Potion

[kerrymdb]

Title: The Potion
Author: kerrymdb
Summary: She just needed to drink the potion and it would be all over.
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,945
Author’s Note: The prompts were "Search and Destroy" by The Stooge, First mistake and Envy. Envy didn't get worked into the fic nearly as much as I originally planned. In fact…you might need to get out a magnifying

Comments

[lady_bracknell]

I really liked this. Is completely believable to me that Lily would have felt like this - it's not the best time in the world to have a baby, and it stirkes me she'd know that under any other circumstances they'd be over the moon, but the reality of their situation changfes things. And I thought you dealt with that really well.

I loved this bit:

Or perhaps, Lily wondered as her hand ran unconsciously over her flat stomach, they could have the child. Defy Voldemort in the most natural way possible, by showing the world that life, that love, could go on even in the midst of such terrible chaos.

Because this child would know love. Because I think that's kind of the truth of what they did - defy voldemort with nothing but love on their side, damning the consequences because that was enough

[kerrymdb]

Gah! Sorry for the deleted comment. LJ is being all funny on me today. Here's the non-funny looking reply...

I've always wondered why the Potters (and the Longbottoms and even the Malfoys) choose to have kids when they were on the front line of a war. So I guess it just made sense to me that it wasn't really a choice but maybe more of an accident. (Wonder how Harry would react if he ever found out!)

The concept of defying was really signifigant to me. Beause the prophecy doesn't say that the Potters escaped or fought the Dark Lord. It say they defied them. So I liked bringing that back full circle. :)

Thank you for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now that I've written Lily, I may have to try it again. She's fun to write. :)

[shimotsuki]

This was a compelling read. It's terribly plausible that Lily would worry about having a baby in the middle of a war. And I love the friendship you've shown between Lily and Remus, the way she feels better with him there even when she thinks she's still going to go through with taking the potion. The way he reminds her that he can be James's friend, but still be hers too.

You make Lily's change of heart very believable, as well, by giving her doubts several times along the way.

I also liked the Lily/Snape interaction, with a hint of a shared history of ... friendship? Or something. (I wonder if Snape did guess what she was up to. That would certainly put a new spin on his reaction when Harry turns up at Hogwarts.)

[kerrymdb]

You make Lily's change of heart very believable, as well, by giving her doubts several times along the way.
I've often wondered why do many people fighting on the front lines of a war (both Order and Death Eaters) choose to have children when they did. Not everyone must have been happy with the news, but I like the idea of Lily realizing that the baby could be a blessing in disguise.

Thank for reading and taking the time to comment! :)

[bratanimus]

Oh, wow, I really liked this. You really captured all the tension and trepidation of Lily's journey, starting with her buying the ingredients at different shops (and I think Snape knows exactly what they're for - after all, there must have been many women who refused to bring a child into a world at war). The temperature in the flat really added to the tension. And her thoughts scurrying from one rationale to the next just carried the piece along.

I thought the scene with Remus was fabulous. The fact that he initially thought James knew and blamed him for not being there with her says that he has no judgment for people who made that decision, especially at wartime. But when he finds out that James doesn't know, he very justly reminds Lily that the engagement ring on her finger is a reminder of a promise of partnership with James. It's the only real arguement he gives to her, but it's so true. And then he vows to stay with her so she doesn't have to go through it alone. What a friend. And the hug at the end, when she finally

[kerrymdb]

Thank you! I'm so pleased that you liked it! For some reason, Lily seems to me like one that doesn't want anyone knowing her personal business (except for close friends) so the thought of anyone figuring out what she was trying to brew (especially Snape!) would be mortifying.

The fact that he initially thought James knew and blamed him for not being there with her says that he has no judgment for people who made that decision?
Remus always seems like the type that wouldn't allow himself to be judgemental. Might even consider it hypocrisy. And I think Remus had to stay with Lily if she took the potion. After all, he does know that having a friend during his transformation makes them easier.

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate them! :)

[kerrymdb]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've always thought that Lily was an active participant of the war and the idea of being pushed to the sidelines because of pregnancy would almost shell-shock her.

I'm so pleased you like Remus' characterization. In the past, I tended on focusing on his more negative qualities, and that's something I'm trying to change!

Thank you for reading and your comments! :)

[gilpin25]

See you're tackling the easy subjects again... ;)

I've spent about five minutes wondering how much difference it makes because you know the baby is going to be Harry, and that Lily gives her life for him, and I've had to stop thinking or I'll never write the review! This seems a very plausible scenario to me; that Lily would think the pregnancy couldn't have happened at a worse time (I'm glad you put in that they'd twice been nearly killed to emphasise she's got real reason to think this), seek to 'spare' James while not realising she's excluding him, and that love makes her realise that she both wants the baby and does have a way to defeat Voldemort at one and the same time. I also thought her worry that she had to be able to fight was spot on and rather tragic.

Really liked Snape's cameo and the strong hint that he knew exactly why she wanted the ingredients. And your Remus is excellent - both in his reactions and quiet reasoning, as well as his loyalty to them both. The hug at the end is lovely; I thought She rested her head

[kerrymdb]

See you're tackling the easy subjects again...
I'm writing far too much fluff lately. I needed the counter-balance. :)

So many fics have Lily almost as a Madonna that I really wanted to explore the opposite of that. If she was active in the Order, I can't imagine that it would be easy for her to stop fighting because of pregnancy.

I'm very pleased that you liked Remus in this. Sometimes I think the PoA movie colors my view of Remus too much (especially with his line, "she was there for me...") but he seems like he would want to be loyal to both of them. That Lily has become an extension of James almost.

Thank you for reading! I'm glad you liked it! :)