Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Additionally, Severus Snape is his own warning, but primarily expect racism, sexism, transphobia, and just general entitled grossness. There's also blood and an implied death at the end. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: So, like, years ago I stumbled across a collection that was just the same plot done repeatedly. I decided to do essentially the same thing with this new collection when I couldn't decide between the possibilities I came up with for a specific prompt.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 16); MC4A (Year 5)
Individual Challenges: Red Dress; Rouge Element; Ginger; Red Bull; Red Wave (Y); Happy Birthday; Bi Rainbow; Rainbow Rainbow; Missing Rainbow; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Slytherin MC; Magical MC; Magical MC; Magical MC; Rowl in Her Grave; Rian-Russo Inversion; Rian-Russo Inversion; Ethnic & Present; The 3rd Rule; Bi Bi Bi; Ship Sails; Shipwreck; Hold the Mayo; Do It For Howard; Lunar Era; Old Shoes (Y); Short Jog; Bucket Listing; Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 16 – Assignment 11
Subject (Task No.): Ritual & Ceremonial Magic (Task#3: Write about two or more characters from the Order of the Phoenix.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: 365 [134](Perfection); 1000 Prompts Challenge [902](Hanahaki Disease); Character Challenge [F75](Petunia Dursley)Hogwarts Gardens [Equip 2](Jealousy)
Other MC4A Challenges: SpB [1B](Spider); TrB [3E](Hanahaki Disease); Ship (Gilded Lily)[List (Prompt); 5B (Restaurant)]; Chim [Citru] ("The Village" - Wrabel; Violet; Race Bend; Hanahaki Disease);Hunt [Sp WD (Hinduism; Genderfluid); Sp Set (Diner/Cafe); Sp Con (Dumplings; Tea)];
Representation(s): Desi Lily Evans/Alice Longbottom; Genderqueer Alice Longbottom; Blended Evanses; Severus Snape; Chim Song Prompt; BC Use
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Nontraditional); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pear-Shaped; Peddling Pots)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: Once (Santa Fe); SN (Rail; Negate)
Word Count: 1226 words
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Beware the Thorns
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If anyone bothered to ask him, Severus Snape would have told them that he fell in love with Lily Evans at Hogwarts. He would tell them that there was just something irresistible about how her tan skin darkened even further when she was caught in the midst of protective fury. Her dark red curls would dance around her head like the flames of a phoenix while her emerald eyes sparked like they could set fire to the subject of her current ire. If asked, he might even mention how her exotic beauty was enough to make him stupid, to loosen his meticulous control over his temper and his tongue enough to cost him nothing less than everything.
If he was being honest with himself, Severus might have admitted that he had fallen in love with Lily when he had first seen her. She and Petunia had been at the playground between Spinner's End and Weaver's Lane. The two girls had not be obviously together at the time, with Petunia making daisy chains while Lily played on the swings. She had looked like a dark angel as she flew through the afternoon sky with her flaming hair whipping through the wind behind her.
Compared to Lily's rich coloration, Petunia Evans had looked as faded and washed out as the paint on the on the playground equipment. The two sisters were as different as night and day, both in personality and in appearance. Severus learned quickly to not reference the racial difference between the girls in front of them or their parents. The fact that Marigold and Lily were of imported stock while Harold and Petunia were properly British was a touchy subject for the little family.
Oh, the things Severus had been willing to do for love, even before he had realized that was what it had been. He was willing to overlook her unfortunate heritage, both of them. After all, Lily had been as able to choose her parents as he had been. While Harold and Marigold Evans were kind, they were not the best at reigning in their daughters. Petunia had a waspish tongue and a proficiency for gossip. Lily shared both those flaws, the only things aside from her muggle parentage that kept her from perfection.
It had caused so many problems over the years of their friendship. Lily would hear of something through her twittering friends. It would upset her to the point that Severus had difficulty placating her delicate sensibilities. She just did not understand that sometimes he was required to spend time with his housemates. He couldn't rely on his mother's family to help him establish himself. He had to build his own connections. He understood that such things were less important to girls, but he truly could not spend all his time with Lily.
Maybe he should have spent more time with her. Maybe that had been why Lily had been so unwilling to accept his apology for how his tongue had gotten away from him. With the stress of OWLs, they had barely had any time to spend together. She must have felt abandoned, set aside, less than. Then he hurt her already-fragile feelings even more by snapping at her when she was just trying to help.
After their conversation outside of the Gryffindor dormitory, Severus decided that it would be best if he gave her time to calm down. It helped that he was able to spend most of the summer with his social group from school. By the time that Severus returned to Cokesworth to prepare for the next school year, he was certain that Lily had had time to not only calm herself but also learn what her refusal to accept his apology had almost cost her.
But when Severus showed up at the Evans house to let her know that he had returned, Petunia answered the door. She was wearing a nice cocktail dress cinched at the waist with a crimson belt. Her pale blond hair was pulled back into what looked to be an artful chignon. Her smile faded as her blue eyes moved over him. He suspected that she had been expecting someone else.
"What are you doing here?" Petunia snapped. "Didn't Lily finally realize just how horrid you are?"
"Odorous as ever, Tuney," Severus snapped in return. He resisted the urge to escalate the argument the older girl was clearly trying to start. Petunia had always been jealous of his friendship with Lily. "Where is Lily?"
"Out," Petunia answered. Her gaze sharpened as her smile returned. There was an edge to it that made Severus a bit on edge. "She's meeting someone at the cafe on Main, the one with the creepy decor."
Severus didn't bother correcting Petunia's description. Only partially because he understood that she was just lashing out. The cafe in question was decked out in motifs of spiders and snakes. The only things that Petunia hated more were frogs and owls, though he was certain that wizarding kind came close. It was a sentiment that he returned. He was looking forward to exorcising the unpleasant wench from their lives once he and Lily were settled into their life in the magical world.
He felt like someone had cast a Swelling Jinx on his throat when he spotted his Lily at one of the tables in the outside dining area for the cafe. The summer had darkened the deep tan of her skin and lightened her dark red hair to something closer to the color of freshly split blood. She was wearing a cobalt sundress with curling white waves on the skirt. The smile on her face made her beauty shine as brightly as the sun overhead.
The only problem was that it was directed at the woman sharing her table instead of Severus like it should have been. Alice Diore was a Hufflepuff in their year at Hogwarts. Aside from her unfortunate Sorting, Alice also had the disgraceful habit of presenting herself as if she was a man. She kept her dark blond hair cut so short that it might as well have been cut with an electric razor. She tended to muggle suits instead of skirts or dresses.
Alice wasn't wearing one at the moment. Instead she was wearing a snow white button-down shirt with the long sleeves cinched above the elbows with red sleeve garters. The shirt was tucked into a pair of cream-colored linen slacks. To add to the ridiculousness of her outfit, she had one both a wide leather belt and suspenders that matched her sleeve garters. Instead of the cup of tea and plate of dumplings on the table between them, Alice's hazel eyes were fixed on Lily who was sniffing a bouquet of violets.
The swelling in his throat blocked his breath, making him choke. He coughed instinctively. Pain ripped its way across his senses. Something tickled the back of his tongue. He coughed again, renewing the pain. The taste of blood and roses filled his mouth just as surely as the flower conjured by his love for his beloved Lily. Fighting off a wave of dizziness, he spat the blossom onto the ground.
The yellow petals dripping blood the same color as Lily's hair was the last thing he saw as the darkness of oblivion swept over him like a tidal wave.