I own nothing. Every character mentioned here came from the genius mind of JK Rowling and her wonderful series. :-)

James POV

Starting over

"Hey Prongs, are you ready to go?" Sirius asked. "Prongs?"

I knew he was talking to me, but I just didn't feel like responding. My whole world was gone. Standing there at my parent's burial was the hardest thing I had ever done. Most kids lose just one parent at a time, but me, I lost both in one night. A new dark wizard by the name of Voldemort had killed my parents because they had been in his way. My parents were both amongst the most talented aurors in the Ministry of Magic, and they had become too much of a threat to him and his followers. Sirius and I were also lucky we were both still alive. It was Sirius' idea to sneak out and play Quidditch in the forest by my house late that night. I remember how mad my mum would get every time we snuck out, but it was just too much fun. That night, I had a bad feeling about something, but I pushed those thoughts aside and replaced them with thoughts of Quidditch. When we returned three hours later, my worst fears had come true. There was a large symbol of a skull with a serpent sticking out of its mouth like a tongue right above our house. I immediately dropped my broom and ran up the stairs with Sirius hot on my heels. I'll never forget what I saw. My father was lying in the hall in front of my parent's bedroom door, his wand laid out in front of him. The door had been blasted open and when I walked in, my mother's lifeless body was lying hunched over a chair. My parents were dead. I fell to my knees and no words could ever describe what I felt that night.

"Hey Prongs, it's getting dark out here, I think we should go."

"Just give me a second Padfoot." It took all of the energy I had to keep the sobs that were threatening me from escaping. I missed them so much already.

"I'll meet you back home then," I heard him say in the background before turning away and disapparating.

I tried not to think about how it would have been different if I would have been there. Would I have been able to help them, or would I be dead too? I didn't blame Sirius for any of it, how could I? He was my best friend, and practically my brother. It was as much my fault as it was his and I never let myself forget it. I always sacrificed good common sense when it came to playing Quidditch, only this time it probably saved my life at a great cost. If only my parent's lives could have been spared too. I walked up to the mounds in which my parents now lay and a single tear dripped down my cheek. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to be weak. I stood in front of the mound that was my mother's and I placed a white rose on top of it. She loved white roses. I then stood in front of my father's mound.

"I won't let you down dad. I promise that I will become the man you always wanted me to be. I'll make you proud."

With those words, I finally walked away. My father enjoyed a good prank as much as the next person but for years he had been trying to get Sirius and me to put as much effort into our studies as we did to our pranks. It started after fifth year when I got my OWL results. I got O's in everything except Divination only because it was a useless discipline anyway. My mother and father were incredibly proud of me, but with that pride came the expectations for me to get serious. They saw what I could do in school and they hated the fact that I was still as much of a trouble maker as I had been in my first year at Hogwarts. The summer I received my OWL results was the same summer Sirius appeared at my window one night, intent on never returning to his house. I didn't have to ask any questions; I knew why he had run away. His family was as bad as you could get in the wizarding world when it came to supporting Voldemort and the dark arts, and with the dark times that were upon us, I always wondered why he hadn't left sooner. My parents of course welcomed him into our home with open arms, and since that day we were officially brothers. My parents treated him as they would treat their own son and with that came the same expectations they had set for me. Sirius was a smart guy, but sometimes he let his imagination carry him away. He received O's in all of his subjects except Divination and Muggle Studies, but he never really liked either discipline. As I stood there looking at my father's grave, I remembered the last thing he said to both Sirius and I. We were in the dining room that night right after dinner when he asked us what we were planning to do after Hogwarts. Sirius of course didn't have much to say since he had never really given it much thought. I told my father that I wanted to go into auror training right after graduation and he couldn't have been happier. There was a sparkle in his eye that told me he was proud, but what he said afterwards changed my life. He said the only way I would succeed as an auror is if I took school much more seriously and if I stopped acting like a child. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy with being referred to as a child by my father, but deep down inside I knew he was right. I was going to be eighteen in December and I wasn't any closer to acting like an adult as I was at getting a date with Lily Evans. But that's another story. I wiped the tears from my eyes remembering where I was and finally left the cemetery.

Moments later, I apparated back to Godric's Hollow where I found Sirius standing in front of our house. I was grateful at that moment that Sirius had run away from his house. He was now the only family I had left. As I approached him, he gave me a sad smile, and patted me on the shoulder. Sirius was truly my best friend in the world. He knew I wasn't ready to talk about the events of the past few days because we had a silent understanding between the two of us that only made our friendship stronger. Somehow though, our friendship seemed different now. Now that my parents were gone, Sirius and I were both going to be forced to grow up a lot in a little bit of time. Things were definitely going to change drastically.

x

Two weeks later, I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea and catching up on homework when a large barn owl swooped through the window and delivered two envelopes. They were our Hogwarts letters, only mine was a lot bigger than Sirius'. I slowly picked up the envelope addressed to me and was shocked by what I read.

Dear Mr. James H. Potter

Congratulations on making it to your seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am pleased to inform you that you have been personally selected to become Head Boy for the following school term. Enclosed you will find a list of instructions to be given to the prefects aboard the Hogwarts Express on September 1. I hope this letter finds you well, and again, congratulations.

Best regards,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

A shiny gold badge with a large letter "H" fell onto the counter and I stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. Dumbledore had chosen me to be Head Boy. Wow. My first reaction was to tell my father the good news, but then it hit me. My father was gone; he would have been so proud. At that moment Sirius walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Prongs."

"Morning," I replied.

"What are you holding there?"

"Our Hogwarts letters just came. Dumbledore chose me to be Head Boy, but….."

"WHAT! Is he off his rocker?" He really sounded shocked.

"I don't know but…"

"I was sure Moony was going to get Head Boy, but you?" he interrupted. "I mean you're a great wizard and all Prongs but you're not exactly Head Boy material are you?"

"Well thank you Padfoot for your kind words, but you're right. I was sure Moony would get it. I mean not that I'm complaining, but who in their right mind would select me to be Head Boy?"

"Well, I guess that means one of two things. We could either take advantage of your new status and get away with many more pranks, or you could actually take your position seriously and become a nice behaved little boy. Your choice," he said winking at me.

At that moment I seriously began to consider what the badge meant. I really hadn't even thought of about pranks in the last few days, and I was beginning to think that maybe that was a good thing. Perhaps this was Dumbledore's way of straightening me out. Maybe he figured that if I was Head Boy, I would be a little more serious in my classes. Although I always got high marks, I never really put all of my efforts when it came to school, except perhaps in Transfiguration.

"Prongs, don't tell me you're actually thinking about it," Sirius said studying me. "I mean, your choice is easy. You're not going to stop pulling pranks on the Slytherins because you're Head Boy are you?" he finished with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Padfoot, maybe this is a sign. Maybe it's time I grew up a little. I mean I'm turning 18 in a few months and maybe you should take this year seriously too."

Sirius looked at me with a look of utmost horror and walked up to me as if he was taking my temperature. "You're kidding right? Prongs tell me you're kidding!"

"Maybe giving up pranking the Slytherins is going a bit too far, but don't you think that pranking other people in the hallways is getting a bit old?" I asked preparing myself for a rant.

"This is going to be a long year," he responded rubbing his temples. "I never thought I would see the day when a Marauder said pranking was getting old," he said as he slowly walked out of the dining room with his head hung low.

Was I willing to give up pranking because of a badge? Well, maybe it wasn't the badge that prompted me to make that decision. The truth is that really hurt when my father told me I was acting like a child. He knew I had the potential for great things, but my playfulness always got in the way. Perhaps I needed to grow up that year after all. I was going to graduate in the summer and I needed to get a job didn't I?

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