The Soft Rainbows - Blog Posts

So it’s been a while…

I know it’s been months since I last seriously posted anything on here, especially about the rewrite I’d been so focused on. Truthfully, I hit a massive dry spell almost as soon as I started college. So much has changed, you wouldn’t believe it.

Anyway, now that it’s summer, I’d like to get back into writing but I need to get the inspiration flowing. So I thought maybe I can have a list of characters that are/will be important in the rewrite and you guys can request a small scene/blurb (if that’s what you call it?) with them. You could request a specific situation but no guarantees made.

For example, you can say: “Can you do something with A and B?” or “Can you write a bit about C and D in the empty common room?” and I’ll come up with something from there. I feel like it’d allow you guys to learn about these characters as they’ll be in the rewrite. So, win-win.

Here’s the list:

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black

James Potter

Peter Pettigrew

Lily Evans

Severus Snape

Maura Grant (white, OC)

Saida Burki (muslim, OC)

Zaneerah Beshara (muslim, OC)

Dorcas Meadowes

Marlene McKinnon

Mary Macdonald

Alice Fortescue

Pandora Malfoy

Regulus Black

The Black Family

The Lupin Family

The Pettigrew Family

The Potter Family

*Not everything I write as a response to your asks will appear in the actual story, it’s just a bit of fun for now.

*You can also choose which POV it’s written from.

Thank you! Hope everyone is doing well!

REASONS TO STAY: BOOK ONE.

SOMEONE TO STAY; Chapter Two.

❛ 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧’𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. . . ❜

WORD COUNT. 3,365

BETA-READER. @fen1s (show her some love!)

WATTPAD. AO3.

Not me obsessively reading my first comment on ao3 (which I apparently got 5 days ago and only saw this morning because my dumbass doesn’t know how to use it yet) 🙄 it made my day though, please send more

And you got a new follower for you rewrite !!

Thank you! First chapter has been posted already, and the second should be published by Friday (hopefully before then).

REASONS TO STAY: BOOK ONE.

SOMEONE TO STAY; Chapter One.

❛ 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. . . ❜

WORD COUNT. 2,369

BETA-READER. @fen1s ( show her some love! )

WATTPAD. AO3.

REASONS TO STAY: BOOK ONE.

SOMEONE TO STAY; Epilogue.

Part of my rewrite series, starting from the Marauders’ Era. More is coming soon.

❛ There’s a dream that used to hold Remus Lupin hostage during his darkest hours . . . ❜

It’s finally here! After months of announcing my work in progress, and years of fixing and outlining the Harry Potter world, I have finally posted the epilogue for what is sure to be a great journey, I hope you’ll show some love and support! Any feedback, comments, advices are welcome!

The Epilogue is very short — it’s meant to be, the rest of the chapters will go from 2,000-ish words and, if the inspiration strikes, more.

WATTPAD. AO3. 

Special thanks to @fen1s for being my beta reader!

Thank you SO much! This helped me a lot, I’ll be sure to read the fanfics you recommended during the weekend.

Also, if anyone else has an idea please let me know regardless of what you think of Snape. I will do my best to be as neutral to him as possible while considering the suggestion. As I mentioned in the ask, I don’t want to represent him as wholly bad.

Hello! I’m rewriting the HP series, starting from the Marauders’ Era.

I’m an Anti-Snape, but I don’t want to portray him as wholly bad like most people who think like me tend to do. I want to have reasons for Lily to stick with him and defend him for so many years other than him just being her childhood best friend or something. Really, I’m asking for some headcanons? Little moments that Snape and Lily treasure? Little quirks that Snape might have (he likes spicy food, loves bugs, literally anything) to help me humanize him more? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(To everyone who messages me or replies: if you’re respectful of my views on Snape, I’ll be sure to be respectful of yours!)

Thank you! @ottogatto suggested I come here for help, so I decided to give it a try.

Hello! First of all - best of luck! Rewriting the series from a specific era involves a lot of love and labour. ❤️🌻 Secondly, I appreciate you reaching out to humanise Snape a bit :) It's usually my pet peeves in Marauder fanfics that you really can't see what Lily was holding onto while her friend is being radicalised. There is something complex and dsyfunctional here and it says a lot about both of them. The fact that you want to put effort into characterising him instead of making him one note vessel to be bashed is commendable ❤️

Anyway - things I see Snape and Lily do that lends some complexity to the friendship:

1. Snape is the one who told Lily she is a witch and is the one giving her the background of wizarding world (Azkaban conversation, wondering how Dumbledore sent the letter to Petunia etc etc).

Lily, when we first see her, has fairly good amount of control over her magic and is also a bit reckless with it (jumping off swings to float in air). I can see both her and Snape experiment with magic a bit. They are also both very good at Potions - so I can imagine child Snape and Lily practising a lot of wandless magic together and also have Potions bonding time as they grow older.

A fic that does this wonderfully and I recommend with my whole heart is Check the Spindle by @copper-dust

Here is an exchange from the fic that captures how I see the dynamic between 9 year old Lily and Snape, and why I see teenage Lily having difficulty letting go of him:

'Being in a place isn’t playing,’ Lily laughed. ‘Playing is playing. You have to pretend to be something and that everything is something else, like you could be the conductor, even, and pretend the trains are still running.’

Severus bit his lip. ‘I don’t normally...do pretend things.’

‘Well, that’s silly.’

‘It’s not silly!’ His voice sharpened like a pencil tapered to a point. ‘Being silly is like… doing things that aren’t real. I can do real magic, so I don’t have to play pretend.’

‘Well, so can I!’ Lily was offended by the implication that her special gifts were in any way less real than his. ‘I make stuff move all the time without touching it. Just because I do make-believe doesn’t mean I can’t do…’ She lowered her voice, though there was no one around the deserted field. ‘Magic.’

‘I didn’t say you couldn’t...couldn’t do magic. I know you can. I was the one who told you!’

She followed him out into the wheaty grass, away from the rails. He had turned away from her to face the gingerbread-coloured bricks of the distant foundry. ‘Why don’t you want to play anything?!’ insisted Lily, to his back. ‘I thought you wanted to be friends!’

‘Because I don’t know how, alright?

2. I usually take the cue from Harry's relationship with the Half Blood Prince textbook as a mirror for Lily's own friendship with Snape. When Harry is shocked by Sectumsempra ("he felt like a beloved pet had gone savage"), I see a more intense version of this playing out between them. Harry thinks of the Prince as a "clever boy who had helped him" - and I definitely see Snape's cleverness as part of the draw for Lily.

The volatility and ambiguity of her friendship with Snape and when she loses him to his bigotry and radicalisation, in my head, plays a part of why she is drawn to James, who is so vocally militant about his progressive politics. She feels safe with James - James won't hurt her by something that is a part of her identity, in her head. There is a wound in Lily - with regard to both Snape and Petunia.

(I also recommend work by acciosalmon - she captures the bittersweetness of the friendship without toning down any flaws. And although Snape only appears in a cameo, I thought @izzythehutt also captured the dynamic well in her Sirius-centric AU)

I also talk about a more flawed Lily here

3. Snape loves his mother, but hates his father. He identifies as half a "Prince" - his mother's maiden name. We also see him wearing her clothes - I read this as a defiance against his abusive father (and also the Snapes are dirt poor, so if Snape wants a hand me down, he will only take his mother's). I go back and forth on whether he takes Lily home at any point - but I personally see him as too ashamed of his home, compared to a more well off Lily. I do see Lily pushing a bit to understand her angry, sullen friend more. I talk about breakdown of their friendship here

4. I can see him hoard rare Potion ingredients and be super enthusiastic about Lucius Malfoy's dark objects collection in his manor. (he will think Lucius taste in peacocks is garish and kinda funny - which I think he will unthinkingly bitch about to Lily, and Lily won't like the implications of him hanging out with Malfoy). She may share his enthusiasm for rare Potion ingredients too. And yes, I think he will love bugs too. (btw, the Malfoys genuinely regard Snape as their friend and Snape reacts unconsciously when Harry names Lucius as a Death Eater, Narcissa knows where he lives and asks him to save her son's life - there is a relationship there, even though Snape is technically betraying their ideology by being in the Order)

5. He smokes ( he is self destructive, and doesn't take care of himself, so his habits are combination of depressive neglect and outright destruction). He enjoys reading - especially rare academic journals. If he wasn't radicalised and went down the path he did, I can see him turning into a reclusive researcher as an adult. So I tend to give him reclusive researcher interests. Snape hyper-identifies with magic and is very interested in expansion of his understanding and knowledge of it. I talk about Snape's draw towards powerful men with regard to his attachment trauma here

Also recommend The Atoners by @copper-dust for difficult teenage Snape interactions, but still in keeping with his humanity and guilt.

6. He is very, very aware of his social standing and class! @floreatcastellumposts captures this in a wonderful paragraph in her fic Phyrric:

She’d let Potter call the baby Harry, he’d heard, and he was sure, somehow, that it was Potter that had come up with the name. It felt like a Potter name - on the surface common and friendly and non-threatening, but when you stopped and thought about it, it was usually still just posh boys that were called things like James and Harry and Thomas and William and John and Richard and David and Edward. Kingly sort of names, princely - royal. Just as pretentious as Latin, but with the added sanctimony of an attempt at approachability or equality.

Also the quote that best sums him up is "a child weaned on poison considers harm comfort"

Feel free to chat with me in case you have any more questions. And good luck once again! ❤️