Brainstorming, Plot Ideas, and Story Help
Quote from Salvyus on August 21, 2023, 11:22 amAlright, this makes more sense now that you've expanded on it. I still think the marriage should take place at least a month after Eileen tells Tobias she's pregnant, but that's up to you. I liked your explanation with the magical creatures. Would love to know which species the Potters... ehem... got their blood mixed with
Sorry for the late answer to your reply, somehow I missed it.
I guess that you're right, it would make sense if it is a bit after she tells him, so that they can arrange it. I will give it more thought.
And that is something I'm still thinking about, I mean there are a lot species out there... A lot of options 😀
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 21, 2023, 12:22 pmOn the Potters:
Snape would hate being a Potter for a single reason: James. When he finds out what the arrangement is going to be, he's going to do everything in his power to avoid it, and I don't see him getting along with James. He'd learn to be polite in front of Fleamont and Euphemia after some trial and error, but I don't think they would develop as much of a bond as Fleamont would hope for. Anything James does to try to rectify this (if he's planning on doing this) is going to be rejected at first, simply because Snape hates him.
If anything, I see Snape snapping and telling Fleamont and Euphemia everything James and his friends did to him, for the sole purpose of hurting them as much as possible.
On Lily:
Based on OWLs and the events of seventh-year, Lily at this point would have gone off Snape completely and somewhat warmed to James; however, this relies on her not knowing about what James is doing. If she found out about Snape's injury (let's face it, something that big would absolutely be talked about around the school), she'd be put off by James, but not necessarily be Snape's friend again; her feelings for Snape and James are divorced from one another at this point, and she currently believes Snape wants to join the Death Eaters and kill people like her.
The only way Lily would care for Snape again (to any degree) is if she believes he's not joining the Death Eaters, and that his views on blood purity have changed. That said, I think James suggesting for Snape to be Head Boy would be a major stepping stone in restoring the relationship.
Potters:
I do agree that Severus would hate it because of James, but I can also see the Slytherin within him coming out and seeing it as a chance to get back at James. It might take some time before he realizes that, so it is still possible he tries everything possible at first to avoid it.
Yes, I do also agree that he won't get along with James at first. And James really doesn't care about it, but somehow there is this voice within him that tells him he made the life of a family member miserable.
It will definitely be a big arc of the Story of how James does rectify everything that happened, and yes it won't be easy for him. Not just because Severus does hate him, there is also Sirius who does hate Severus and the fact that James did hate him too and can't simply shove it away.
On the matter of Fleamont and Euphemia I do only agree to 50%, because for Fleamont it is completely correct. Sev does want to hurt the man as much as possible.
But Euphemia is different, even though at the beginning he also does want to hurt her. Eileen had been rather cold to Severus all his life (at least all he can remember) and then there is this woman that should really hate him because he is the product of the infidelity of her husband but instead Euphemia shows him warmth and love, supports him in what he does even if they sometimes don't agree in the matter.
Lily:
Again I do agree, in seventh-year her relationship with same won't be good at all. He follows her request to leave her alone and she thinks he just turns darker and darker (definitely becoming a Death Eater in her mind) because she does rarely see him around.
Sev's injury definitely will be talked about around the school, there is no way to keep it secret that a Student nearly died and senior Healers from St. Mungus were needed in Hogwarts.
It does pur her off James, a sign that somewhere within her she does still care about Severus because she does question it herself. "Why does she care if a wannabe DE is hurt? One less danger for her if he had passed, right? Right?! Ugh..."
They finally get closer again when Sev becomes Head Boy and they have to work together again. It is then that Lily does notice that he seems to work against the junior Death Eaters within Slytherin, trying to get young Slytherins into friendships with people from other houses and showing them a way away from the dark.
I think at this point it also should be mentioned why James gave up the position:
In my actual outline it is the summer break before 7th year when James and Severus finally get closer, building a delicate bound and not hating each other anymore.
As they get to know each other they find similarities but also that they can learn from each other.
James realized his failures and finally also can admit that what he did was wrong. But he does also realize that while he had everything since he was born, his brother only had Lily.
He understands that she had been Severus light in the darkness that was his life, and with that realization he feels like throwing up because he had destroyed the only good thing that his brother had. Somehow he does even blame himself for what happened during the summer break after 5th year because if he hadn't destroyed them, maybe Lily and her parents would have gotten him help before he was back in Hogwarts.
And with James understanding all that and giving up the position he is also finally able to let go of Lily. Finally he does realize that Lily isn't the only woman on earth and that there are others that fit him even better.
Sorry that my answer was so long.
Here's my two cents. Like @salvyus I don't really agree with the blood group thing, wizards are still human and unless they do have creature blood in them there shouldn't be anything peculiar. But you could do one of two things I had in mind as Poppy needs to test Snape's blood anyway: 1. She heals him but later Snape realizes that his blood group fits neither of his parents which he hadn't noticed before (kids in muggle school test their own blood group but I doubt that's happening in Hogwarts unless there's a paternity potion or the like to brew). As far as I remember, and my last biology class has been a long time ago, we get our blood groups from one parent or it's a mixture of both parents. So it is possible that Severus inherited his father's blood group and RH factor and both are different from Tobias' and Eileen's. Or you could add another component to magical blood like an extra protein or the like. If you do go down the creature road, it could be similar. Poppy tests Snape's blood and it isn't purely human which is strange because she knows for a fact that Eileen had no creature blood and Snape's muggle father wouldn't either but strangely James has the same blood.
I also don't really like that James is willing to play family with Snape all of a sudden. He grew up as a spoiled brat and I don't see him easily change his view of the slimy death Eater in the making. So I would prefer they hate each other for longer and that James feels Snape is stealing HIS family, especially his mom. That greasy git has no business being so precious to her.
Regarding Lily, should it get around that Snape is actually a Potter, then I think the Slytherins would keep their distance form Severus as he would be the son of a blood traitor. So unless Snape distances himself from his newly found family, he won't be considered as a potential recruit for the Death Eaters, that in turn would endear him to Lily again (to a degree) mixed with the whole drama of him not knowing his actual father and all of this being so confusing etc. She may start hating James again if she sees how nasty he is to his newly found brother as it would remind her of how Petunia treats her.
Regarding Eileen's rushed marriage...well if she does have sex with Tobias and can convince him the baby is his, it won't sound that weird. Back in the day, premarital affairs were looked down upon so were children conceived out of wedlock. Or you could have her ay with Tobias' memories and make him believe he had something with Eileen and had now gotten her pregnant. He may be scum but he has the decency to take responsibility for his actions and takes care of Eileen and his bastard son. The abuse Severus suffered would be due to Tobias holding a grudge against Severus for forcing him into an unwanted marriage.
Don't apologize for a long post, you've got enough details here for me to see how this could play out. I hadn't taken Euphemia into account, and now that you've brought up that aspect, I see Snape being consistently closer to her than either James or Fleamont.
Wait, I just realized something. Euphemia just learned that her husband had an affair and a child as a result, what would her first reaction be to Snape?
Hey all 🙂 Sorry for my late reply today, I didn't get to my computer earlier.
Quote from Dark Angel on August 21, 2023, 3:04 pmHere's my two cents. Like @salvyus I don't really agree with the blood group thing, wizards are still human and unless they do have creature blood in them there shouldn't be anything peculiar. But you could do one of two things I had in mind as Poppy needs to test Snape's blood anyway: 1. She heals him but later Snape realizes that his blood group fits neither of his parents which he hadn't noticed before (kids in muggle school test their own blood group but I doubt that's happening in Hogwarts unless there's a paternity potion or the like to brew). As far as I remember, and my last biology class has been a long time ago, we get our blood groups from one parent or it's a mixture of both parents. So it is possible that Severus inherited his father's blood group and RH factor and both are different from Tobias' and Eileen's. Or you could add another component to magical blood like an extra protein or the like. If you do go down the creature road, it could be similar. Poppy tests Snape's blood and it isn't purely human which is strange because she knows for a fact that Eileen had no creature blood and Snape's muggle father wouldn't either but strangely James has the same blood.
I also don't really like that James is willing to play family with Snape all of a sudden. He grew up as a spoiled brat and I don't see him easily change his view of the slimy death Eater in the making. So I would prefer they hate each other for longer and that James feels Snape is stealing HIS family, especially his mom. That greasy git has no business being so precious to her.
Regarding Lily, should it get around that Snape is actually a Potter, then I think the Slytherins would keep their distance form Severus as he would be the son of a blood traitor. So unless Snape distances himself from his newly found family, he won't be considered as a potential recruit for the Death Eaters, that in turn would endear him to Lily again (to a degree) mixed with the whole drama of him not knowing his actual father and all of this being so confusing etc. She may start hating James again if she sees how nasty he is to his newly found brother as it would remind her of how Petunia treats her.
Regarding Eileen's rushed marriage...well if she does have sex with Tobias and can convince him the baby is his, it won't sound that weird. Back in the day, premarital affairs were looked down upon so were children conceived out of wedlock. Or you could have her ay with Tobias' memories and make him believe he had something with Eileen and had now gotten her pregnant. He may be scum but he has the decency to take responsibility for his actions and takes care of Eileen and his bastard son. The abuse Severus suffered would be due to Tobias holding a grudge against Severus for forcing him into an unwanted marriage.
We already talked last evening in Discord and could clarify some of your point here.
I don't want to go down the route of Sev finding out himself because then he could simply hide from it, I think it is essential that it is actually discovered by Poppy, someone who would report it to the authorities.
As I already said yesterday, I will go down the creature blood path. For me that seems interesting and not really overused by other Fics. It gives also a lot of possibilities to explore.
I still have to settle on which Creature blood is actually mixed with the Potters.
James isn't willing to play family with him right from the beginning. He doesn't like Sev and can't believe it. For him it feels as if Sev is stealing his family/parents (especially his mom) from him. So there will be a lot of hot blood during their 6th year, something that get's the Potters worried as they now get informed every single time when something is done to Sev.
Maybe they made some failures while rising Sev.
So there will be conflict and I think that you will enjoy some (maybe even most) of it.
Again thank you with coming up with such a great idea for Lily and the Death Eaters last evening, it did help me a lot and I definitely will go with it. I think it will make for some very great Lily POVs while I can also keep her a bit more in the background during the 6th year. As most for them is actually planned for 7th year.
Hmm, I think both are good options with Tobias and I will give them some thought. The first one (them having sex) might be the better one as reason for his grudge against Severus, blaming him for the unwanted marriage.
Again thank you very much for your help 🙂
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 21, 2023, 5:15 pmDon't apologize for a long post, you've got enough details here for me to see how this could play out. I hadn't taken Euphemia into account, and now that you've brought up that aspect, I see Snape being consistently closer to her than either James or Fleamont.
Yes, Sev will definitely build quicker a relationship to her than to the male Potters. Euphemia does shows him the love of a mother, even when he is cold and rather mean.
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 22, 2023, 2:45 amWait, I just realized something. Euphemia just learned that her husband had an affair and a child as a result, what would her first reaction be to Snape?
That is a very interesting question and I personally think that not everyone will like how I handle it. Euphemia is hurt and angry about the betrayal, but she doesn't blame Severus for that. She knows that he is the last one that should be blamed for what Fleamont and his mother have done.
But now to her first reaction:
When Sev does need someone to donate the blood she already understood what is going on, but she didn't care about it. What she cared about was that a young boy, who hasn't even finished Hogwarts, was laying there and nobody was sure if he would survive the next few minutes.
And partly her Jamie was at fault for that.
After it is safe to assume that Sev will survive she actually really understands that her husband had cheated on her, sired a child and not taken responsibility. She isn't sure if she can believe that Eileen Prince hadn't informed him about the child, her trust in Fleamont is simply shattered in that moment and it will take time to restore it.
But she really doesn't wish to even think for it for the moment, and so she puts all her attention on Sev, visiting him every day from morning till evening and caring for him while he is in the hospital wing.
She gives the boy love and warmth, not caring when he is mean or hurtful as she is sure that this are only reactions that are caused by the hurt of just now finding out who his true father is.
And by the damage that has been done to him at his former home, not just physical but also psychological.
I hope you like my answer 🙂
I like this approach to Euphemia, and I think this would be a good way to characterize her. One thing that might be interesting is if there's conflict between her and Fleamont present throughout the work, which could cause James some stress and cause him to blame Snape for existing.
Speaking of family, I forget if you mentioned whether or not Tobias was a alive.
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 22, 2023, 3:26 pmI like this approach to Euphemia, and I think this would be a good way to characterize her. One thing that might be interesting is if there's conflict between her and Fleamont present throughout the work, which could cause James some stress and cause him to blame Snape for existing.
Speaking of family, I forget if you mentioned whether or not Tobias was a alive.
I'm very happy that you do like it! 🙂
There will be conflict between her and Fleamont throughout the work, in my Opinion it is even an important part of the complete story.
James will also witness the conflict between them and blame Sev for it, but that is not all... He feels as if Sev is stealing his mother from him and that does make him really angry.
I didn't mention that but... Tobias is alive. Eileen isn't, and as Eileen wasn't around during the summer break he used the next best punching bag he had in the house... Sev.
Poppy already had hard work healing him when he returned for the 6th year.
I was thinking:
One common thing is for parents to be contacted when their children are injured. If Tobias was written to, and the school found out he didn't care, it's possible they may try to find next of kin if Severus is still a minor when he's injured? The blood test might be used to find next of kin, which leads to Fleamont.
Quote from The Gestalt Prince on August 22, 2023, 3:35 pmI was thinking:
One common thing is for parents to be contacted when their children are injured. If Tobias was written to, and the school found out he didn't care, it's possible they may try to find next of kin if Severus is still a minor when he's injured? The blood test might be used to find next of kin, which leads to Fleamont.
Well, then Tobias and Eileen must have ignored more than one contact attempt from Hogwarts. Cause let's be honest... Sev was more than once injured by the Marauders.
I think that they probably weren't contacted, maybe one of Dumbledores "Let them be kids, it will form their character" things.
I did like the idea from DarkAngel, that Poppy makes the blood test and realizes Sev has creature blood but that shouldn't be possible. Because Eileen didn't have Creature blood and a muggle certainly won't have it either.
And when they search for someone with identical blood, thinking the chances are low but a 1% chance is better than none, they find that James has identical one.
Ah okay, that makes sense. Anything figured out for the creature, either the exact type or perhaps a general region where it might be?
