Lily (Evans) Potter

[Parchment and Quill]

Boy, it has been a long time!

I think she would care how she looked but she wouldn't take it to the extreme that Parvati and Lavender did.

Conversely, Hermione seemed to be a little non-concerned with her appearance; she *could* have had "nice" hair, but she'd have had to spend time with Sleek-eazy every day and she didn't want to do that. So I think Lily would have been more concerned than Hermione was, even though Hermione was by no means slovenly.

As for the appearance of others; well, she didn't seem to care when she was younger, because she was Snape's friend, and he didn't appear well-dressed, well-fed, well taken care of or even particularly well-bathed the entire time they were friends. And she did marry James, who not only had naturally messy hair, but also messed it up to make it appear wind-blown.

So she'd bathe and wash her hair regularly, and make sure her hair was brushed and neat, but I don't think she'd be putting on tons of make-up or poring over fashion magazines or Witch Weekly.

I agree there, cmwinters!

To add on, I think that Lily wouldn't put any make up, otherwise a dusting, on most of the time. She wouldn't really do much with her hair, wear really fancy clothes, care about the latest fashion. She'd make sure she looks presentable, if she had a bad night before, maybe a little make-up.

And how she'd view other peoples looks.... wouldn't care and wouldn't notice to begin with. She was friends with Snape, after all!

MerryD - nice idea by the way!

[dancing_in_moon_pools]

I don't think Lily would spend hours agonizing over her hair, and make-up. She'd probably wear some mascara and some natural make-up. She'd probably have her hair in a ponytail, or maybe plaits/braids. She'd probably be like Ginny, sort of in between Lavender/Parvati and Hermione. Since she's so smart.
She wouldn't care what somebody looked like-she definitely wasn't shallow. She was a deep person-like she didn't care about blood purity/houses.

Oh, and I was wondering do you think Lily would play Quidditch?
If so what position?

[Ravenclaw_Soprano]

I don't think Lily would have played Quidditch. She would not have known anything about it until her first year at Hogwarts, and she did not have the flying experience that most pure/half-bloods would have had while growing up. She also seemed a little too school-oriented to play Quidditch.

If she did play Quidditch, I think she would have been a Chaser. However, I think this was unlikely.

~Lauren of The Gauntlet Pair!

[dancing_in_moon_pools]

Thanks Ravenclaw_Soprano.

But does anyone think she might have joined the team after a few years?

[cmwinters]

I don't personally think she would have.

Jo didn't really do a very good job of writing Lily as a complex character, which is why a lot of people refer to her as Lily-Sue. Popular, good looking, smart . . . if you make her good at sports too, you're kind of diminishing any non-Sue traits.

Besides, she was very close to Severus when they were children, and I think if she had a natural affinity for Quidditch (which we have no reason to believe based on his memories; he's not sitting there jealously watching her play and we don't see a scene where she scores and then turns to smile at him or something), I think it would have strained their relationship *because* of James.

I think you're better off leaving her out of Quidditch.

[dancing_in_moon_pools]

okay-thanks.
hmmn...my story'll need some altering....
thanks!!

[th_poet14]

Another thought to add: if she played Quidditch, she would have been forced to spend more time with James Potter. The mere idea might have turned her off of Quidditch.

I agree with the Lily-Sue thing. The only flaw we see her having is a temper, which isn't a big one, and that's one of the challenges of writing her.

Kate of THE GAUNTLET PAIR!

[Mudblood_and_Proud_of_it]

I also agree with the Lily-Sue thing. While we're on the topic, what do you think could be some serious flaws that Lily could have to make her seem more...human? I've tried to write her before, and found it extremely hard. So far she only really has two minor flaws: her inability at Quidditch and her temper, and having a temper is used so often it's a total cliche. Any ideas?

[cmwinters]

I hardly call an inability at Quidditch a flaw; nobody says that about Hermione.

She seems kind of stubborn; she really stood by Severus in the beginning until he was a complete prat to her. You could make her a bit high-strung (which would fall under the expectation that as a redhead, she's "passionate") — you know, have her overreacting to things a little bit, particularly in puberty.

You could also put the slightest touch of cruelty in her. Calling Snape "Snivellus" was about the cruelest thing she could have said to him. Yes, I am well aware that Snape had just said something completely unforgivable to her and I'm absolutely not justifying his behaviour. But neither was Lily's statement any less cruel.

Honestly, to completely steal the line from someone who pointed this out on LJ, Lily going after James is the typical rebounding scenario: Snape liked Lily, Lily sorta liked Snape. James liked Lily *TOO*, but Lily *LOATHED* James (as, it should be noted, did Snape). But when Snape made her mad, Lily compounded the injury by running straight into James' arms — the same James that not only is his mortal enemy, but quite frankly provoked him.

You could also make her be a little bit bossy, but I'd really refrain from trying to turn her either into Ginny OR into Hermione. Jo has already made Ginny & Harry Oedipian enough that it makes a number of people (myself included) very uncomfortable, and the SS/HG shippers basically turn Hermione into a miniature Lily.

Make sure you make all three of them their own person.

[Rhi for HP]

I also agree with the Lily-Sue thing. While we're on the topic, what do you think could be some serious flaws that Lily could have to make her seem more...human? I've tried to write her before, and found it extremely hard. So far she only really has two minor flaws: her inability at Quidditch and her temper, and having a temper is used so often it's a total cliche. Any ideas?

Oh yeah, the temper is SUCH a cliche. If you include it, please, please don't overplay it. The only canon evidence is when she yells at James to put Snape down from where he's been tortured, and I don't see that as a temper thing--I'd be pretty pissed too in that situation, and I'm a pretty mellow person.

As far as flaws...maybe she's not as perfect as she'd like to be at, say, Transfiguration? And that would be a further bee in her bonnet because James and Sirius are so good at the subject. Or maybe her flaw is that she's too much of a perfectionist, sort of like Hermione? But I don't know...I don't see Lily as being as obsessed with grades and school as Hermione is. Meh. She could be.