D@mn you Gossip Girl!

Sadly, ANTM and Project Runway have ended and Masterpiece Theater has gone on holiday as well.

So, I have taken to watching whatever comes on television when I grade papers in the evening.

I have now seen a total of...2 Gossip Girl episodes and therefore do not get the overall plot line.

Anyhow, d@mn them - they stole a plot line from my fan fiction.

No joke - I had always seen Tobias Snape and Acacia Evans as having a thing.

Acacia (nee Sheppard) Evans is the name I christened Lily Evan's mother.

As I see it, during WWII, Mr. Sheppard (I can't remember his first name, but I have it written down) was a spy for England in North Africa. His wife and child (Rose and Acacia) fled London during the bombings to their country estate in North England - the village where the Snapes reside.

While in the village, Acacia Sheppard becomes friends with Tobias Snape - they become friends, they throw snowballs, report the coordinate of enemy planes to the wire service, etc.

But then Acacia must go to St. Ethelburga's School for Lovely Ladies and never returns...for her father is found dead after being tortured in Egypt for his espionage. She and her mother do not return to the country estate but chose to move back to London.

And where is Eileen Prince while all of this is happening? Well, she is in the same village, watching Tobias from afar, and, having gained courage as a gobstones protege at Hogwarts, she fills the void that Acacia left in Tobias heart.

Years later, Rose Sheppard chooses to return to the country estate to end her days. Acacia has grown up, become a doctor, married, and is working in India with her husband as part of the World Health Organization.

Only when Acacia learns of her mother's death does she bring her family back to the village.

And Tobias falls in love with Acacia again. And Severus falls in love with Lily.

And it is all down hill from there. Seriously downhill...what with the wizarding war, unrequited love, malaria, and some powerful memory charms.

At least this is how I envision it - I am sure JK Rowling has a less epic and melodramatic history of these people. And different names for them.

Again, this is how *I* chose to fill the back story since JKR has not yet released this information or, perhaps, even thought about it.

But I do because I have a flair for the melodramatic...and perhaps "fangirl" the whole Sev/Lily thing far too much for my own good.

Which is why I was so mad that Gossip Girl stole my plot line. I don't know who everyone is on the show, but here is the plot line as I understand it from my two episode and a few commercials knowledge of it:

The blond girl (really pretty) and the black haired boy (too small a nose to be cute) like each other, are possibly in love with each other, but she has *issues* and he has *issues* possibly, but not totally, about each other.

Whatever - they totally like each other and want to be together, but the writers of the show are keeping them apart for the drama of it all.

And to further this divide, the boy' father and girl's mother were once in love, a long time ago, and are now free to be together and the boy and girl decide to be apart for their parents' sake because it would be far to freaky to date the son/daughter of your mom/dad's boyfriend/girlfriend.

Whew.

Except the writers threw in some baby plot line that I totally do not understand - which was kind of cool, because some of the characters know the whole story and others don't and I got to be out of the loop so it was all a big mystery for me.

But the last scene in the train station I don't get - was their child put up for adoption? Or did she have an abortion?

I don't get it.

Whatever - the GG writers stole my plot line.

Except for the whole baby thing...and the requited love thing...whatever, same basic idea.

And they ironically (to me) named the mother Lily.

But I want to report that I came up with the whole thing first so that when I finally get my fanfic out there no one thinks that I am just copying the GG plot line.

I am perfectly capable of creating my own melodrama, thank you very much!

MEEPERS!!!

Lately my post titles have been onomatopoetic.  

Today has been a GOOD DAY!!! 

Yesterday, not so much.  As my husband can testify, the PMS has arrived.  

Here is why today, JULY 31st, 2008 is a VERY GOOD DAY:

1) It is Harry Potter's and JK Rowling's Birthdays!  

2) JK Rowling announced that she and Amazon.com will release the rights to "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" and Scholastic will release the book December 4th. 

And it will include more information about wandlore, wizarding world stuff, etc.

  

And it is available in both standard and collector's editions. 

If you would like to pre-order a copy for me for my birthday, Christmas, Name's Day, or Pascha

(*ahem* parents -- yes mom, you are still off the hook for my birthday because you got me the collector's edition of The Order of the Phoenix, but I am throwing more ideas out there) 

you can here -- I will be happy with a standard edition, but would LOVE the collector's edition (it is $100!!!  Perhaps a birthday/Christmas/Name's Day/Pascha present combo?).

And it is for CHARITY!  JK Rowling is my hero -- she gains no profit, just the awesome feeling that comes with being generous to those who are less fortunate and ensuring dignity for all mankind.

3) I had an eight o'clock dentist appointment and have NO REASON for a second appointment!  Woot!  The dentist was worried about my inflamed front gums but I have breathing through my mouth due to sinus drainage (sorry -- it's true), he said it was nothing to worry about but I should watch it.  So, I have my mouth closed right now.

BUT NO RETURN VISIT!!!

4) I am so HAPPY to announce that one of my stories was accepted on a Harry Potter Fan Fiction Site!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No it is not about Lily and Sev, but whatever, MY STORY IS ON A FANFICTION SITE!!!

My beta, Gabe, gave me the thumbs up on Monday, which caused me to do a little snoopy dance inside, but I kept my cool.  There is always a chance that the moderators will not think one's story is well done.

So, I submitted the stories to Mugglenet FanFiction, Fictionalley, and The Quidditch Pitch (I had not heard of The Quidditch Pitch till Gabe recommended it.  It is a really cool site and I like how it is organized.  Bit...er...racey.  But that's ok :).   If I submitted to three sites, I would have pretty good odds.

AND...this morning I received an email from Fictionalley and MY STORY HAS BEEN UPLOADED!!!

I literally said "OH MEEPERS!" when I read the email.  I have no idea what "meepers!" means or where it came from, but I said it and I decided to use it for my title.

Only two things to dampen the experience: 1. I have a typo :C  It is my own darn fault; 2. My author's note did not make it: the one where I offer a HUGE THANK YOU to my beta Gabe for putting up with my neuroses as well as misuse of quotes, dashes, and ellipses and for guiding my writing from a jumble to a story AND how I quote the Godfather  Part I.

Oh well, you can't have it all.  But I did email the folks and hopefully these two errors can be corrected. 

And now I can add a new link bubble where you can check out where my stories are.  :D

But here's the thing -- Fictionalley is a really large community.  So is Mugglenet Fanfiction.  In the future I might just stick with The Quidditch Pitch, if they'll have me.  I really like small communities where you can foster relationships instead of being faceless in a mass of people.  

So, I'll see what happens.

BUT FOR NOW I AM GLORIOUSLY HAPPY AND WILL BE SNOOPY-DANCING TILL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING!!! 

(except there is Vespers for Procession of the Cross, so I will have to stop then, light a candle in thanksgiving, but after that I am proceeding)

The Carrot

Here is your carrot Katy - she asked about where the fan fic was...

Part I - Chapter 1 where Lily's restless thoughts finally get her to sleep.

Lily could not sleep. She was quite sure of what was keeping her awake – the next day, the “date” with James Potter.

James Potter – she and James Potter were going on a date. Though Hogsmeade was officially off limits this year due to Death Eater recruitment (and Lily had a sneaking suspicion of which students were being recruited), James Potter had planned a date for the two of them tomorrow. He told her she should wear comfortable shoes. He lacked that certain James-Potter-self-satisfied smirk – he actually looked nervous.

He had also sounded nervous when he asked her for a date earlier in the year. Perhaps it was his tone that caught Lily off guard at dinner one evening. They were having polite conversation about Head Boy and Girl duties when it happened.

“Evans,” James had asked.

“Yes,” she had replied, not even looking up from the schedule for indoor break she was tapping with her wand.

“Do you think we could get together – j-just you and I, alone?”

“Right, that would be alright” she had replied, not even thinking, not even seeing it as an invitation for something else – she had been busy stuffing her bag with the altered schedules and rising to leave. She had only figured out what his words meant when Cassie interrogated her about agreeing to a date with Potter.

“Lily, if you don’t like him, don’t get his hopes up! It would be cruel!”

In the present, Lily gave a sigh. She heard Cassie stir in her sleep. It was no use – Lily was wide-awake. Climbing out of bed, lighted wand aloft, she went to the pitcher by the window to get some water. She wasn’t sure about James.

She filled the glass with water and sipped. She was never sure about James Potter – he could be kind in one instant and a total jerk on the other. He was just downright awful for the first five years of school, especially to Sev.

Severus Snape – the very thought of him made Lily plunk the glass down and dash for the warmth of her bed. He no doubt heard about the date tomorrow. Was it third year – yes it was third year because it was right after Potter saved him. Severus – Sev at the time – had blurted out that James Potter fancied her. Oh, how she hated James then, but just that morning she had thanked Potter profusely for saving her best friend from whatever beast was in that tunnel under the whomping willow. Still, that did not eliminate James Potter as her last choice on earth for a date.

Now Sev was always around Rosier and some other random, evil Slytherins – little death eaters in the making.

What would Sev say now? He most likely would be incredibly upset for he had always despised Potter. But, if he had stayed the Sev she knew from the village – her best friend. If had remained the Sev who knew everything, who would laugh more than scowl, who wouldn’t dream of insulting her…

Lily huffed and rolled over – Snape was a total jerk.

If all he could muster that night was lame apologies and excuses, then he had made his choice. Those little dark arts pals were more important to him than she was.

If Sev had stayed Sev, would she even be on a date with James Potter tomorrow?

Lily rolled over in her bed some more – slightly disgusted with herself. Her thoughts always seemed to come back to Severus Snape. At first, he had fought her silence and constantly tried to contact her, but now he was silent and ignored her as much as she ignored him.

She really did not know him anymore. If he did speak to her, she was less than kind, quite often rude, but he said nothing scathing in return.

Did he care? Did she care if he cared?

Lily burrowed deeper under the bed sheets. It would be incredibly unwise to let her mind wander down these paths. What she needed to worry about was tomorrow – did she even like James Potter?

When she had cried on Snape’s shoulder over Tristan, wasn’t it he who said that you had to love someone who loves you. Otherwise, you would go completely mad. Tristan, Tristan Sharp – there was a story there, but her mind was too weary from reminiscing and began to calm itself.

Snuggled under blankets, Lily finally thought herself to sleep.

Revised Chapter 1

Deleted because it was too awful for words...

lia

Chapter One - Year Four

You know - when I started writing this I was so slap happy that in Deathly Hallows I was proved RIGHT that Lily and Severus were friends, I wrote a really crappy intro. My new first chapter is not much better, really cheesy, but whatEVER - I have a story in my mind and I want it out there.

STOP snickering Odious:)

lia