Salt and Pepper 2022 Claiming Post

[hpgoldenage_mod]

Before you sign-up, please read the rules and guidelines for this fest here.

A few quick things:

1 - Prompts can be claimed once for Fic and once for Art and are first come, first served. We will indicate as soon as possible if a prompt has been claimed for either fic or art and strikethrough it if it's been claimed for both.
2 - We will email you as soon as possible to confirm you got the prompt you wanted (or your second choice if your first was already snagged, etc.) so please sign-up with an email address you check regularly.
3 - The prompts were placed in the category where they seemed to fit best but please check out all three as some could have fit into more than one section.
4 - Remember, your creation is not a gift, so if you stray a little from the prompt, want to substitute in a different character or a pairing, that's perfectly fine.
5 - Conversely, if none of the prompts strike your fancy, but you still want to participate, you may sign up to create your own idea! You may also use any unclaimed prompts from previous years.
6 - Sign-ups via proxy are allowed.

Sign-up Form

To sign up, fill out the following in a comment below. Comments are screened as this is an anon fest! :D

Please make sure you indicate which prompt you are claiming by letter and number.

<b>DW Name:</b> <b>AO3 Name:</b> <b>Email Address:</b> <b>Fic or Art?:</b> <b>Choice #1:</b> <b>Choice #2:</b> <b>Choice #3:</b> OR <b>I'll be creating my own idea:</b> (You do not need to give us details if you don't know yet! Just a 'yes' is fine.)


Specific Pairings

P1 - Prompt: Ginny has early onset Alzheimer's and she spaces out a lot. One time she blurts out to Lily Luna (thinking it's Luna - maybe Lily Luna dyed her hair...) that Harry left her. But Lily is surprised b/c her parents are together. She finds out that Harry had left (for Draco) but they had got back together for the family. Lily tries to find out the truth.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Draco (endgame)
Theme/Tone: Regret. Pining. Family.
Additional Info: No Ginny!bashing. Maybe Harry came back b/c Ginny got sick or maybe he has a secret life...

P2 - Prompt: The Blacks lost all of their children to war
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Walburga/Orion
Theme/Tone: W/O lose two sons in about as many years: one to a mysterious death, one to prison. Orion dies between those milestones. What did the final years of the Black marriage look like? How does Walburga meet her end?
Additional Info: Ignoring JKR’s absurd birthdates for Cygnus and Orion, since they would have been fathers at 12/13. Safely assume they were born in the 1920s.

P3 - Prompt: Without meaning to, Remus finds himself caught in a stream of alternate universe which shows him what life could have looked like had Sirius and him gotten the change to grow old together.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Theme/Tone: bittersweet, happy
Additional Info: James and Lily making an appearance in one of those worlds

P4 - Prompt: Harry & Draco run a bed and breakfast together. And they have some interesting stories to tell!
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Draco
Theme/Tone: Fun. Reminiscing. Joy
Additional Info: Maybe a couple gets into a big fight and drags HD into it.

P5 - Prompt: A decade after the war ended, Lucius and Narcissa have much to be thankful for. They are alive, their son is in a happy marriage, and the trials they went through together have made them stronger.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Lucius/Narcissa; Draco/Astoria (or Draco/whoever if you can't stand the epilogue, it would be the minor background pairing anyway as Draco would only be in his twenties at this point)
Theme/Tone: Gratitude, Family, the meaning of life being found in small moments
Additional Info: Maybe Narcissa having reconnected with her sister, too.

P6 - Prompt: Both Severus and Sirius survived the war (somehow) but they ended up alone and just going through the motions of life. Decades later, they reconnect by chance and find they have more in common than they thought.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Severus Snape/Sirius Black
Theme/Tone: Two tired men realizing it takes too much energy to hate.
Additional Info: Lots of fluff, smut is the best. Happy ending

P7 - Prompt: When Dumbledore turns fifty, he runs into his old flame. What do they say to each other after so long? Is there any spark left between them after thirty years?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Dumbledore/Grindelwald
Theme/Tone: Maybe romantic, maybe tragic, maybe a series of 'what-ifs'
Additional Info: assume the timing of them being fifty is well before Grindelwald starts his war

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] P8 - Prompt: What might’ve been different if Tom had been accepted as DADA professor.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Albus Dumbledore/Tom Riddle
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: No bashing, please.

P9 - Prompt: Orion wishes he could go back in time and accept Alphard’s offer to run away with him.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Orion Black/Alphard Black
Theme/Tone: Angst

P10 - Prompt: It’s been decades and they’re still in love.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Ron/Hermione
Theme/Tone: Fluff

P11 - Prompt: Morfin experiences remorse and wants to turn his life around… starting with the Muggle Tom Riddle.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Morfin Gaunt/Tom Riddle Sr
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Wouldn’t mind an appearance by Tom Jr.

P12 - Prompt: Remus and Severus in love and bickering about small things
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Remus/Severus
Theme/Tone: Fluff, romantic, humor
Additional Info: I love the idea of them being together for decades and still bickering about how to make proper tea, etc.

P13 - Prompt: Albus and Gellert in the 1940s (they should be over 50s by then).
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald or gen

P14 - Prompt: What if Albus had gone to see Gellert during the first war with Voldemort?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Albus/Gellert or gen

P15 - Prompt: When the nest is empty Hogwarts has a parents night and they meet and hook up
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Xeno/Lucius
Theme/Tone: romance, hookup
Additional Info: maybe with some feelings

P16 - Prompt: meeting later in life after divorce finding out it should of always been the other person
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Dean / Neville
Theme/Tone: romance
Additional Info: sweet flirting

P17 - Prompt: walking on the beach holding hand with the grandkids
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Draco/Luna
Theme/Tone: sweet fluffy
Additional Info: No bdsm or abuse

P18 - Prompt: There's always been something between Harry and Ron that's never been realized. But after Ginny's unexpected death, they turn to one another for comfort.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Ron/Harry or Harry/Ron/Hermione
Theme/Tone: sensual, comfort
Additional Info: Up to you if Ron & Hermione are married or not! If so, I'd imagine it more like a poly-v situation, but could also be a triad!

P19 - Prompt: the events of philosopher's stone from Nicolas Flamel's point of view.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Nicolas/Perenelle
Theme/Tone: any
Additional Info: I do hope he's old enough to count.

P20 - Prompt: A teacher-student relationship 30 years later
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Hermione-Snape
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Curious to know what happens to a 50-year-old who fell in love with her teacher at the age of 18.



Specific Characters - Gen or Romance
(Non-specific but character-focused prompts are also included here.)

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C1 - Prompt: There's a new chosen one in town and Harry finds himself taking on the Dumbledore role.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry Potter
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Harry being a super compassionate person struggles between the great good and what's good for the chosen one.

C2 - Prompt: Changing over headmasters at Hogwarts
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Armando Dippet and Albus Dumbledore
Theme/Tone: Retirement, the contrast of Albus’ forward-looking cheer and Armando looking back on a long career. Does Armando pass along advice? Is he happy to leave? How does Albus feel about taking up the mantle?
Additional Info: Armando’s canon age at this point is over 300 years old, but if that’s too absurd for you, feel free to make him something like 100–ideally, he’s substantially older than Albus, who is probably in his 60s or 70s by the time he takes over.

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C3 - Prompt: Advice about raising a grandson on your own
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Augusta Longbottom, Andromeda Tonks
Theme/Tone: Andromeda approaches Augusta after the war, looking for advice (from one old family to another) about raising your grandchild after his parents were lost to a wizarding war. Bonus points for romance between Augusta and Andromeda! Would love a hopeful ending, but angst about the situation is fully welcomed.
Additional Info: Andromeda is raising Teddy on her own, please—Harry is a godparent but not a part of Teddy’s daily life.

C4 - Prompt: Hogsmeade after the war(s)
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Aberforth Dumbledore, Madam Rosmerta, anyone else you can reasonably place in town
Theme/Tone: Long-time shop owners re-establishing their businesses after shutting down for the (first or second) war, seeing customers come in again. What’s changed around Hogsmeade? For Aberforth after the first war: does he believe his brother that Voldemort will be back? Does he plan anything for that?
Additional Info:  COVID has me thinking about small businesses under stress. The wars served as a sort of lockdown for the wizarding world, and I’d love to read about the town coming out of it.

C5 - Prompt: Father/son feels after Sirius has run away.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Orion Black
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Wouldn’t mind a canon AU with a happy ending.

C6 - Prompt: What if James Potter had lived?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: James Potter, Harry Potter
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: I really would love to see father & son bonding

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C7 - Prompt: As she grows older, Narcissa comes to regret cutting off ties with her only surviving sister, and decides to contact her for the first time in decades.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Narcissa & Andromeda
Theme/Tone: Sad, bittersweet, hopeful?
Additional Info: Up to you what direction to take this. Maybe they can begin to rebuild a relationship -- or maybe they really can't. It'd also be interesting to include the reactions of the people around them (Lucius? Draco? Teddy?).

C8 - Prompt: Luna is getting on in years, even for a witch, and decides to go on one last big creature-hunting adventure.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Luna & whoever you'd like to see her bring along. (Ginny? Hermione?) Feel free to make it shippy if you want!
Theme/Tone: Bittersweet, uplifting

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C9 - Prompt: S/he's been separated from the wizarding world for decades, but circumstances conspire to bring him/her back.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Any

C10 - Prompt: Many years have passed, and the veterans of the Second War are aging. What do they do to make sure their history is remembered by future generations and the mistakes of the past aren't repeated?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Any

C11 - Prompt: Harry tries to ride a broom again and it doesn't go well. The other person comforts him
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/anyone
Theme/Tone: hurt/comfort, humor, smut, fluff

C12 - Prompt: Neville teaches his romantic partner a love for gardening
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Neville/anyone
Theme/Tone: fluff, romantic, perhaps slightly angsty or bittersweet?

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C13 - Prompt: Harry's been offered the position of Head Auror before but always turned it down, preferring to remain in the field. But now, at his age, it's either take the promotion or retire.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry-gen or shippy fic if you'd like!

C14 - Prompt: never too old for a heist/caper
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: humor, character study
Additional Info: They're getting old but when the game's afoot they feel like first years all over again.

C15 - Prompt: prophesies never age
Suggested Characters/Pairings: any
Theme/Tone: dark, angsty
Additional Info: The character(s) learn of a prophesy that is only due to come true after their 50th birthday. It's unavoidable. Who do they bring in to help?

C16 - Prompt: He loves his wife deeply but after decades together the passion has cooled. But that's what he's got [insert female character] for.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Ron/Any Female Character (who's also 50+) & Ron/Hermione
Theme/Tone: smutty, illicit
Additional Info: Would prefer the focus to be on a hot smutty encounter--either infidelity or in an open relationship way is fine, but no getting into potential fall out of infidelity discovery.

C17 - Prompt: People always assumed he/she would eventually settle down with someone, but as he/she gets older, he/she only grows more confident in the choice to stay single. And it's awesome.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any would work. Luna? Minerva? Draco?
Theme/Tone: Learning to feel okay about being yourself, reaching the age where you no longer care about other people's judgements.
Additional Info: Could be an asexual character, but equally well could be someone who just prefers not to be in a relationship!

C18 - Prompt: Character(s) in retirement end up being responsible for children
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Angsty teens would be fun/challenging but go with the age(s) that you're interested in

C19 - Prompt: The not so glamorous life of a pub owner/landlord/landlady
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Aberforth Dumbledore, Rosmerta, Tom (the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron) or any HP character you want to turn into a pub owner
Theme/Tone: Any

C20 - Prompt: they've been a twin all their life and now they're alone.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Parvati or Padma
Theme/Tone: character study/angst

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C21 - Prompt: If they were going to be turned into a creature, did it have to happen so late in life?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: any
Theme/Tone: any
Additional Info: creature!fic -- vampire, werewolf, veela... go wild!

C22 - Prompt: Now that Hermione is retired. . .what is she going to do with herself?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Hermione gen or any pairings
Theme/Tone: anything but crack
Additional Info: Does Hermione find a new project? Does she drive her children crazy? Both?

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C23 - Prompt: As she ages, Minerva does not develop a memory disorder; instead, she begins to lose her magic
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Minerva McGonagall/any or gen
Theme/Tone: may be humorous or angsty; anything but crack
Additional Info: How does a life-long witch adjust to life essentially as a Muggle? How do her friends and/or lover respond?

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] C24 - Prompt: When 60-something Dudley needs a knee replacement (or whatever medical procedure you want), he has to stay with Harry and his family to recover
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Dudley, Harry, anyone else you like
Theme/Tone: anything but crack



Multiple Pairings and Open

M1 - Prompt: It was when they became grandparents that the fact they were aging really sank in.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione
Theme/Tone: mild angst and fluff
Additional Info: Coming to terms with it, adapting. Doting on their grandkids.

M2 - Prompt: At first their careers took priority, then the war and its long after math, then another war happened...and finally they get to plan the wedding they dreamed up so long ago.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey or Minerva McGonagall/Pomona Sprout
Theme/Tone: any
Additional Info: happy ending

M3 - Prompt: Coming back to teach at Hogwarts once their mentor has retired
Suggested Characters/Pairings: McGonagall and Hermione, Sprout and Neville, Pomfrey and Healer!Harry or Healer!Hannah Abbott, Flitwick/Slughorn/other and Fred and/or George
Theme/Tone: bittersweet, fluffy, humorous, crack
Additional Info: younger gen complaining about kids these days and smug retiring professors fondly throwing back "oh no, you were much worse" type things in their faces

M4 - Prompt: Characters age in the afterlife, so they keep pace with those they left behind. Becoming grandparents/god-grandparents or great-grandparents from the great beyond
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Lily/James, Sirius/Remus, James's parents, Lily's parents, Susan's parents, Neville's parents
Theme/Tone: bittersweet, fluffy, humorous
Additional Info: Maybe muggles and magicals mix freely, so muggleborn families can be together there

M5 - Prompt: Characters age in the afterlife, so they keep pace with those they left behind. Finally reunited
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Neville's Gran and Grandpa, Minerva and her husband, Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Amelia Bones and her love
Theme/Tone: bittersweet, fluffy, humorous
Additional Info: Maybe muggles and magicals mix freely, so muggleborn families can be together there

M6 - Prompt: Another war, another generation of orphans being raised by their grandparents. The struggles of picking up that role and actively parenting their grandkids
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Hermione, Neville/Luna, Hermione/Luna, Harry/Neville, Harry/Charlie, any of those pairings widowed
Theme/Tone: bittersweet, fluffy, humorous
Additional Info: Prankster favorite great-uncle George or similar

M7 - Prompt: Trying to keep fit as you age is difficult when you work a desk job.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Draco, Oliver/Marcus
Theme/Tone: Humour, fluff
Additional Info: Please no eating disorders! I'm just after fluff!

M8 - Prompt: Their thirtieth anniversary was always going to be a big deal
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Luna, Blaise/Ginny, Draco/Astoria
Theme/Tone: Anticipation, nerves over what's to come.

M9 - Prompt: Ron is having a mid-life crisis.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Draco/Ron, Cormac/Ron, Charlie/Ron, Harry/Ron
Theme/Tone: Angst, fluff, humor

M10 - Prompt: As they've aged they've had to adapt the way they play, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Draco/Harry or Charlie/Harry
Theme/Tone: kink
Additional Info: Basically a kinky BDSM type fic with the characters having to adjust the way they do things to accommodate changes as they age. Preference for subby Harry

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] M11 - Prompt: They've been together for decades, and decide to open their relationship.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Fun, exciting, sexy

M12 - Prompt: Grandma and/or grandpa take the grandkids out for the day to give harried parents a break. What kind of hijinks do they get into?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Fluff, humor, family feels

M13 - Prompt: "Ooops" pregnancy
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any (mpreg acceptable but not required)
Theme/Tone: minor angst but humor preferred
Additional Info: Minimal pro/anti abortion discussion, please

M14 - Prompt: "Dratted newfangled technology!"
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Humor
Additional Info: You don't have to explain why technology works, just assume it does.

M15 - Prompt: Here there be Dragons!
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Open
Additional Info: Go where your imagination takes you.

M16 - Prompt: "I've been elected to what?"
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Humor suggested but not required

M17 - Prompt: Retirement plans gone astray
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Any
Additional Info: Whatever your character(s) had planned for retirement isn't/can't happen the way that was planned. What now?

[CLAIMED FOR FIC] M18 - Prompt: Getting old doesn't mean you stop having fun
Suggested Characters/Pairings: any & all
Theme/Tone: Humour and smut
Additional Info: epic amounts of swinging, sluttery and multi-pairings are hoped for.

M19 - Prompt: Baking together!
Suggested Characters/Pairings: anyone
Theme/Tone: fluff ... maybe some smut? :D

M20 - Prompt: Decades after their one night stand (when they were both married to other people), they still want each other.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Hermione/any Weasley, Harry/any Weasley, any
Theme/Tone: angsty and sexy

M21 - Prompt: You're never too old to learn how to dance
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Severus, Severus/anyone, Harry/anyone
Theme/Tone: romantic, fluffy

M22 - Prompt: Adopting a new pet together
Suggested Characters/Pairings: any
Theme/Tone: fluff, humor, romantic?

M23 - Prompt: They had a fling when they were younger, but nothing more came of it. They run into each other decades later and all the old feelings come back.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any 

M24 - Prompt: Second chances are a wonderful thing
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry/Cho or Harry/Parvati
Theme/Tone: fluff and smut

M25 - Prompt: Political intrigue at the Ministry. They have been playing this game for decades.
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: Any

M26 - Prompt: Forgiveness
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Character A wants to make things right with character B before it's too late.
Theme/Tone: hopeful ending
Additional Info: Would prefer no illness or character death, just a sense of getting older and needing to make things right

M27 - Prompt: Aging like a Muggle
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any
Theme/Tone: non-angsty, humor, light fluff
Additional Info: They could do away with all those aching knees and backs with a wave of a wand, but maybe they were Muggleborn and want to age like their parents despite magic?

M28 - Prompt: friendship anniversaries!
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Hermione & Luna, Harry & Draco, any & anyHermione & Luna, Harry & Draco, any & any
Theme/Tone: fluff, humor, celebratory
Additional Info: The characters treat the anniversary of their friendship as important as any marriage and decide to throw a big party for their 50th anniversary.

M29 - Prompt: ghosts returning to their former selves?
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Any Hogwarts ghost(s)
Theme/Tone: angst, drama
Additional Info: A spell gone awry causes several or a few of the Hogwarts ghosts to return to their earthly selves, but they are the age they would have been if they'd never died.

M30 - Prompt: and they lived happily ever after
Suggested Characters/Pairings: any character that died in canon
Theme/Tone: hopeful, looking back on the war, angst, happy ending
Additional Info: (bonus points for rare characters like Colin Creevey) They had a close brush with death and are reminded of it much later in life.

M31 - Prompt: A totally new career at age 50 or 60 or 80 or older
Suggested Characters/Pairings: Harry or Minerva or Flitwick or Poppy Pomfrey or Ron Weasley or Severus Snape (he lives, of course)
Theme/Tone: anything but crack
Additional Info: The reasons for needing a new career may be as interesting a the career itself