AN: Comps and Prompts down the bottom.
wildfire, for the boy who loves chaos
AlwaysPadfoot
If there was anything James loved more than chaos, it was beautiful women. His problem, however, was that he always ended up attracted to the wrong girls.
In his first year, James fell head over heels for Gryffindor, Lily Evans. Upon finding out she was a Mudblood, and therefore she should mean nothing to him, he vowed to make her time at Hogwarts a nightmare. His fellow Slytherin and best friend, Sirius Black helped him every step of the way. James wouldn't allow himself to like this Mudblood — she was nothing and he was so much more.
The second girl was at least worthy of him. Narcissa Black caught his attention long after the Ministry had removed Lily Evans and the rest of the Mudbloods from Hogwarts.
Narcissa was Head Girl and James was the new Slytherin perfect. With her long blonde hair and beautiful soft features a direct contrast to most of the other members of the Black family, Sirius often joked she was an illegitimate child. James didn't much care about that though; he simply cared about winning Narcissa's affections. Unfortunately, Sirius was quick to inform him that his aunt and uncle were about to sign off on a union between them and the House of Malfoy.
James was willing to fight for this girl. Upon learning how close the families were to drawing up a contract, he wrote to his father to convince him to pursue a betrothal as well. By the time his father had reached out to the Blacks, it was too late.
Of the two girls James had fallen for, Narcissa was betrothed and Lily was not worthy. It felt as though his brain didn't have a clue about how to make sensible decisions when it came to love.
Deciding to forego the notion of love all together, James and Sirius joined the rank of the Death Eaters. Their youth segment was widely advertised on notice boards around Hogwarts and both boys agreed it was an excellent opportunity to expand their brand of chaos into the Muggle world. James was sure it would this be the distraction from beautiful women that he needed.
After months of training and duelling with their fellow classmates in their spare time, James and Sirius finally received their first field mission after their sixth year ended.
James was practically giddy as orders were given. Their mission was to decimate a Muggle market outside of London in Surrey. Not only were they finally on a mission, the boys had been easily roped into part of a competition. The winner was the one who wracked up the most deaths as the sun set on a scene of terror. James was sure that Sirius would trounce everyone so he wasn't bothered about competing properly. He was merely eager to cause mayhem.
Whilst there were split into different teams, Rowle admitted that they would likely break away from this groups into separate entities fairly rapidly.
"On my word, you will all apparate to your starting point," Rowle said as he paced in front of the twenty men in the room. "As soon as your feet hit the ground, you will begin. No survivors — not even a pathetic Muggle baby. Do you understand?"
James wasn't in the business of killing children. Even though he murmured a confirmation along everyone else, he decided he would be avoiding any children like the plague.
As they waited for Rowle's order, James caught Sirius' eye and grinned. "Ready, loser?"
"You bet, dickhead," Sirius retorted.
James rolled his eyes, gripping his wand. He was ready to go. He just wanted Rowle to call out 'begin' so that he could satisfy his growing craving for destruction. It was the only thing he seemed to be able to focus on these days — the only thing that he now deemed worthy of making him happy. He spun his wand between his fingers once, twice, three times and then, finally, Rowle called the command out. James spun and Apparated away with a second thought.
Standing on the edge of the marketplace, there was a deep feeling of serenity that encompassed the scene in front of him.
Then a piercing scream cut through the air.
James raised his wand, pointed it at the nearest stall and it promptly exploded. Multiple objects were flung into the air and then rained back down as the Death Eaters marched into the market. The heat from multiple fires surrounded him quickly as he moved deeper into the chaos; it was stifling. Orange flame flickered in his peripheral vision, gold sparks and ashes cascaded through the summer air. James felt more alive than he had in months.
He shot a bolt of green at a figure of a man trying to escape into the treeline. It collided with his back and knocked him to the floor where he fell still with a finality that made James grin.
"No survivors," he said simply to himself.
Letting the crackle of fire and the sound of curses being cast wash over him, James revelled in the moment — until someone screaming interrupted it.
Following the sound, James perused hiding spots and whistled cheerfully as he did so. He eventually found the source; one of his fellow Death Eaters, Nott, torturing an older man.
Nott offered to let James join in, but he decided to move on. James was keen to find a Muggle of his own. As though someone had read his mind, James spotted someone staggering in the distance. In the thick smoke and scorching temperatures, it appeared as though they were trying the escape the market too.
He could catch them.
James ran towards the corner the person had just stumbled around, only to find that they had disappeared.
He cocked his head. There was less fire here; it hadn't quite spread to this area. James promised himself that he would rectify that — once he'd found the Muggle. Whistling lowly, he decided to do this the old-fashioned way. This segment of the market was stacked in rows of furniture: tables, wardrobes, wooden bed frames; it would not be difficult to find them.
"If you come out now, maybe I'll kill you faster."
No response.
James expected as much. Muggles were so terrified of magic that in the past they'd tried in earnest to burn witches and wizards at the stake. Perhaps that was why so many Death Eaters chose to use Incendio to begin the raid with. It was only fair that the pain was reciprocated, with an added bonus. Pureblooded wizards walked away from burnings; Mudbloods and Muggles did not.
James walked down a narrow aisle of cupboards. He stopped in front of each item of furniture and blasted the doors inward wordlessly.
"You don't want to be in one of these when I do this," he continued. "All the ribs in your chest will crack inwards. Can you imagine the intolerable pain that would cause? That would be the last moments of your miserable life — bleeding out in a pile of splintered wood. Not an honourable death — even for a Muggle."
James reached the last cupboard, and as he raised his wand and cast bombarda, he didn't hear the scream he'd been expecting.
As the dust settled, his eyes fell on a woman crouched down on the floor behind where the cupboard had stood. James' hand entangled in her hair. He pulled her to her feet and forced her back against the nearest piece of furniture still standing. As James' eyes fell upon her wide brown eyes, he immediately felt a feeling that cast fear through his body.
"Shit," he muttered.
The woman, though blood matted her blonde hair and she looked like she'd fallen multiple times, mud and grass staining one side of her lavender summer dress, still managed to be desperately attractive. All James could feel was the same thing he felt when he first met Lily Evans — the same thing he had felt when he looked at Narcissa. He forced himself to wrap the fingers of his left hand around her throat, tight enough to scare her, not tight enough to prevent her from breathing.
No survivors.
He should just kill her now before he couldn't. If he let her go, another Death Eater would take care of her. Maybe that was for the best. But Merlin forbid, if someone saw him let this girl, this Muggle, go, he would be punished for it.
The girl was looking at him, wide-eyed, tears running down her stained cheeks.
James let another swear word pass his lips before he gripped her arm and pulled her towards a large trunk with a note that said: price negotiable. It was large enough. Waving his wand, it slid out from under the table.
"What, what are you doing—?" Her voice was shaking, her weakness making James sneer. "P-please, let me go."
Before she could say anything else, James opened the lid of the trunk and pushed the girl inside. As he did, James caught a flash of the pale skin of her upper thigh before he slammed the lid down. Casting a locking charm, James slammed his hands down on the top of the trunk.
"Fuck," he said sharply. "James Potter, you utter idiot."
With a wave of his wand, he banished the trunk to the only place he knew no one would find it — the Shrieking Shack. He would have to deal with the girl later. What he would do he didn't know, but for now, he had to go play Death Eater.
"That went as badly as anticipated."
That was James' excuse as Sirius guffawed at his measly total of just three kills, parading his thirteen kills around like a fucking king when they returned to debrief.
James blocked him out. Not only did he not care about kills (only the maelstrom of chaos), all he could think about was the Muggle he had locked in a trunk in a shack that his yearmates claimed was haunted. What in Merlin's name was he going to do? He could have jeopardised his reputation — his life — all for a pathetic Muggle girl he'd considered attractive.
"James Potter, you inspire me."
James zoned back in to find that Sirius was right in front of him, a smug grin set wide on his face.
"I'm scared to ask what I inspire in you," James joked.
"Chaos and destruction, my friend. Chaos. And. Destruction."
They'd been dismissed. Sirius was suggesting that they went to get celebratory drinks, but that was the last thing James wanted to do. Always a quick-thinker, he excused himself — claiming that his mother was ill — and instead Apparated to Hogsmeade Village alone.
The setting sun beat down on his exposed skin as he walked quickly down the path towards the Shrieking Shack. Joining the Death Eaters, destroying the Muggle World piece by piece was supposed to be his escape. It was supposed to rescue him from even looking in the direction of girls that were utterly unattainable. Especially girls that were nothing more than the scum on the bottom of his shoes. And yet, here he was, climbing the fence around the Shrieking Shack. He had no plan either. What he should do was kill the girl, go back to his life and pretend that this had never had happened.
James simply stared at the trunk for a long while when he reached the room.
Then, finally, he cast an unlocking charm and then opened the lid from afar. For a moment, there was no sound, no movement, and then James saw a set of pale fingers grip the edge of the trunk. The girl pulled herself upright in the trunk.
Her brown eyes fell to him.
"May I get out?" she asked calmly.
James confessed himself shocked. He'd expected tears, just sobbing and begging that might make him start to hate her. She should be scared of him. Of course, her eyes were puffy and her appearance was in complete disarray, but her demeanour was a complete contrast. James stood as she did and for a brief moment, the girl froze. Their gazes locked and then she continued, climbing out from the trunk with no fear.
"Why aren't you afraid of me?" James said finally.
His wand was spinning between his fingers as he watched her close the trunk and sit tentatively on top of it. She scoffed at him. "My sister is one of you people."
James' eyebrows arched upwards in utter shock. Never in his life had he been greeted with such disdain, especially not for being a Pureblooded wizard, and never from a Muggle. He cocked his head and cleared his throat in disgust.
"One of us people?" James repeated and the girl nodded promptly. "So, your sister, she's a Mudblood?"
"A what?"
"A Mudblood: she has dirty blood — Muggle blood," James clarified condescendingly.
The girl stiffened at the words. "My sister might have decided she was never coming home, but she did not have dirty blood."
James laughed shortly. If the girl's sister was a Mudblood, then she was either in Azkaban, or she was dead. It almost felt wrong to tell her. The blonde tried to smooth out the creases in her dress and crossed one leg over the other, inspecting their surroundings with a deeply critical look.
"You're not going to let me leave, are you?"
When she spoke this time it was the first hint of fear that James heard in her voice, and admittedly he was still impressed that she was holding it together.
"What's your name?" James asked.
"It's none of your business," she responded.
"You sort of invite nosiness," he said, looking her up and down.
She met his gaze with a look so cold that James felt ice crawl through his veins within just a second of their eyes locking. With a sneer, she replied defensively: "I don't dress like this to impress men. I dress like this because I want to."
James wanted to be impressed with her snappy comebacks and confidence, but he realised he needed to be in control of this scenario. He stopped spinning his wand and stepped towards her.
"You seem to think that you have some authority here. Let me tell you, you don't," James said simply. "You have less standing here with me than your Mudblood sister would have had."
The blonde stood up suddenly, anger causing her lightly freckled cheeks to heat. "You utter bast—"
James lifted his hand and brought it across her cheek so hard that she fell stumbled backwards over the trunk. This was the first time James saw her composure slip entirely. She pressed her hand to the red mark on her cheek, looking up at him with wide eyes filled with fear. Thankful, James was happy that he was finally able to see her properly as someone that was beneath him. The trunk slid out from between them, slamming into the wall on his left. James stepped over her, his wand pointed down between her eyes. This was right; this was what James should have done in that market.
The Killing Curse should have left his lips right there, right now.
"What's your name?" he demanded.
She pressed her lips together into a thin line and stubbornly stayed quiet. James sucked in a breath and kicked her sharply in the ribs. The girl cried out and curled up under his feet.
"Your name."
"Petunia," she replied, her voice breaking. "Petunia Evans."
James turned away so she didn't see his eyes widen at the admission of her last name. Of course, of course, he'd kidnap the sister of the girl he'd loved in first year. He had to get out of here; he needed space to think and he was not going to do it here. Without another word James strode from the room, locking the door behind him.
He left Petunia Evans alone.
James didn't go back for nearly two days.
He considered leaving her — never going back — but instead, guilt made him return with food and water.
"Is this supposed to be an apology? If it is, it's not very good," Petunia muttered as James heated up a container of his mother's tomato soup from home and handed it over with a bottle of water.
"It's not an apology," he replied simply.
Petunia bit her lip and inspected the soup, looking like it was taking all of her restraint not to start eating immediately. James rolled his eyes at her distrust; he was doing her a favour by letting her eat and drink.
"It's my mother's — homemade — not poisoned," he said pointedly. "Poison would be such a boring way of killing you."
She lifted the container of soup to her mouth and took a sip, swallowing gratefully.
"So that's what you're going to do to me? Kill me?" she asked.
"I should have killed you already," James responded honestly.
"So why haven't you?"
When James didn't respond, Petunia's attention went back to the soup fairly quickly. He didn't blame her. After two days of not eating he would be hungry too. Besides, her question was one he'd thought about a lot over the last twenty-four hours. It was one he had no answer for.
James couldn't help that when her soft brown eyes had met his in that market he'd felt a twang of something he'd never understood.
Minutes passed. James' eyes didn't leave Petunia. Summer rain hammered on the windows of the Shrieking Shack and the walls creaked in the wind, but James wasn't interested in that. He was interested in Petunia more than anything else. Surprised that she'd regained her composure even after what had happened, James was impressed. He hated himself for letting himself feel anything but hatred for her.
"You know, just because you're magic doesn't make you better than me," Petunia said eventually.
James scoffed but didn't say a thing as Petunia continued speaking. "I think you know something is wrong with the way you think, which is why I'm not dead, which is why you're hiding me in this place. I think you're scared to admit that."
Her brown eyes lifted to meet his. James stood abruptly and the girl didn't even flinch at his jerky movements.
Instead, she stood and slowly approached him.
"I think everything in the world is telling you should hate me," Petunia said slowly. "But your brain won't let you."
"I—no," James stammered, running a hand through his messy hair. "You're wrong; you're just a Muggle."
"And you're just a wizard."
Petunia slowly burned away the ideologies in James' head.
For a boy who loved chaos, James began to get a sick pleasure from anonymously sabotaging Death Eater Missions. As time when on then ended up killing fewer and fewer muggles, turning on each other more and more every day. Then, once James was done, he'd come back to her.
Giddy with adrenaline he'd tell Petunia stories. His gestures would be wide, his voice loud and filled with pride. Petunia's eyes would sparkle; she'd laugh when he joked with her and suggest ways he could cause the Death Eaters and their missions to unravel even further. She was beautiful, intelligent and after a handful of weeks, James decided he couldn't go on any longer.
"Let me take you home," he said.
Petunia's jaw dropped. The was a glass half raised to her lips as they sat under the starry sky visible through the hole in the ceiling above their heads.
"No, I can't go home."
"Why not? It's what you want, no?" James said confused.
Petunia shook her head.
"If I go home, I go back to normal," she explained. "I always had to be normal, because Lily wasn't, but I loathe the person I've become."
James had to admit he was shocked. He had thought as soon as he offered Petunia her freedom, she would have taken it. He had expected to have never seen her again come dusk the very same day he dropped her home.
Now, James was at a loss.
What did Petunia Evans want?
Then, finally, she turned to him, taking his hands in hers. Petunia had a look in her eye that James immediately felt a connection to — like she was about to say something so ridiculous, so out there that James would practically lose his mind at the suggestion. Even before she spoke. He knew he would like it; that he'd agree even if it were an idea beyond his wildest dreams.
"James Potter, let's run away together."
James let a smile play across his lips. His eyes were bright with excitement, plan already planning their next moves.
"Petunia Evans, I'd love nothing more."
Comps and Prompts
Assignment 12: Gardening: Task 10: Flowers - Write about a character with a floral name.
World Cup, Round 1: (dialogue) - "That went as badly as anticipated."
IHC: 142. James/Petunia
365: 107. "Why aren't you afraid of me?"
Hot Air Balloons - 2. Voldemort!Wins AU
Gobstones: Orange Stone - Rebelllion [A. Kicking someone (action), P. Market (setting), T. "You inspire me" / "I'm scared to ask what I inspire in you."]
SC — Days of the Year — July 3 2018 - Disobedience Day: Write about someone being disobedient.
SC — Summer Prompts — (word) Stifling
SC — Colour Prompts — Gold
SC — Birthstones — Moonstone - (dialogue) "I don't dress like this to impress men. I dress like this because I want to."
SC — Flowers — Aster - (word) Attractive
SC — Shays Musical Challenge — 15. The Great Comet of 1812 - write about someone falling in love with someone who they shouldn't be in love with.
SC — Gryffindor Prompts — Easy: James Potter, Traits: Reckless, Other: Gold (colour)
SC — Summer Astronomy — (word) Rescue
WC - Character Appreciation - 15. Not being able to follow through with a task (plot point)
WC - Disney Challenge - 1. Anna - Write about someone falling in love too easy.
WC - Book Club - Dearlett: purple (colour), dress (object), clue (word), "Is this supposed to be an apology? If it is, it's not very good."
WC - Showtime - 7. The History of Wrong Guys - Falling for someone you can't have (plot point)
WC - Amber's Attic - 14. Brightfall - Write about someone struggling to choose between good and evil.
WC - CYB - 4. Different House!AU / 1. Serenity (word)
WC - Em's Emporium - 2. TheodoreNott/AndromedaBlack - Write about someone unlearning a logic or ideology.
WC - Lo's Lowdown - CBP 11. Write about someone doing something bad for what they think is right.
Word Count: 3478