harry potter imagines

james potter x reader: photogenic

JAMES POTTER X READER

"All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person's (or thing's) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt." ― Susan Sontag

notes: happy belated valentine's day!

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"Did you know that going to school year-round makes your brain rot and causes your soul to catch necrotizing fasciitis?" James asked, his hands in his pockets as he walked alongside y/n. "I read it in the muggle magazine your mum left out on the kitchen counter."

Y/N rolled their eyes. They were the co-creator of Remus's theory that James was just charming enough to get away with being annoying eighty percent of the time and still be liked. Unfortunately, their hypothesis was actively being proven.

"Such a big word for such a small brain," Y/N mused aloud, nudging James to hurry up. "Ignoring your inability to read medical journals, I would like to argue that photography assignments shouldn't count as schoolwork."

"Do you get graded?"

"Er, well, yes, I s'ppose I do."

"Well, then it counts." James smiled proudly, his hands settling on his waist and a triumphant grim mocking y/n.

"Deflate your ego, pretty boy; you'll sink the boat," Y/N deadpanned, stepping into the small rowboat.

"So you think I'm pretty?" James asked, his eyes bright with amusement and glaringly radiant with the water reflecting off them. "You should know I prefer handsome, awe-inspiring, beautiful, or even godlike. For next time, of course."

"I can swim, James. I will flip this boat and leave you drowning," Y/N threatened, jokingly rocking the small vessel back and forth. As much as James was irritating, Y/N would never. They couldn't help but form a fondness for Hogwart's golden boy.

The two had an odd dynamic — both of them knew it. Although James was Gryffindor's golden boy, he wasn't enchanted by school in the way y/n was. Y/N had a past of getting into trouble in muggle primary school, and they weren't enchanted with mischief in the way James was. And yet, they were both quite enchanted with each other.

"This far enough out?" James hummed after a bout of silence, his eyes darting around and looking for something stimulating.

"Yes, I suppose." Y/N pulled out their camera, messing with the shutter speed ring and aperture as James began to narrate the Appleby Arrows' quidditch game.

"-And then, Fawkes dove for the quidditch — like a dunce, might I add — and ran into his teammate. HIS TEAMMATE WHO HAD THE QUAFFLE. No respect for chasers at any level of quidditch, I swear. If I were Fawkes, I would-"

Y/N cracked a smile, watching him talk animatedly through the viewfinder. The assignment was on the beauty of water and knowing how to accurately capture the fluid movement of waves, ripples, and reflection. However, James had a point. Sometimes there was such a thing as too much schoolwork. So, instead of focusing in on the way water flowed around the boat's wood, they focused in on James Potter.

He was easy to capture, despite the way he bled light the way the sun exuded heat. His eyes were concentrated towards the shoreline, his hair was curly from the heat and humidity, and his skin was darkened by the sun. He was nervous about being out on the lake. It was evident through the viewfinder and his shaking leg. Y/N dropped the camera after a few shots, placing their hand on his leg.

"Do you want to go back? I know deep waters make you nervous." Y/N was soft and gentle, and James felt the warmth of their words soothe his nerves.

"No, it's okay. Just, uh, show me how to take a photo with the camera." James reached over, his hand brushing over y/n's as he swept their Zorki away.

"Well, I messed with the settings enough that it should be fine," Y/N started, nervously patting their hair down. "Look through the tiny window-like thing in the top. That's called the viewfinder. Then use the lever there to release the shutter. Just be careful before the film release is right next to it. James, maybe I should- oh!"

James grinned at the view. He was certain the photo was horrible; his hands were shaking from nerves, he couldn't find the viewfinder, and he only knew it worked when y/n congratulated him on his first photograph. He, of course, didn't know the process to get to the photo, but he was sure it wouldn't produce much. Nonetheless, he knew that a moment of some kind had been captured, and that was enough for him.

"Do you think that it will go up in museums?" James joked, pulling the camera up to his face to take another.

"Oh, yes, and you'll have to credit me. I plan on a 50/50 payout," Y/N laughed, playing along with the boy.

"You'll have to talk to my manager, Sirius Black. You may have heard of him. He is kind of a big world in the art world— Did you know he once peed on a public statue?"

"Unfortunately, I was there for his performative art piece," Y/N deadpanned, shaking their head at James fondly. "Come on, let's head back."

James was right. The photo was god-awful when it got developed; it was at an intense angle, y/n was blurry, and there was a watermark on the lens. The photograph was also loved and well-traveled. It traveled from the darkroom to Hogwarts to James and Y/N's first apartment.