This fic will be slightly AU. I wanted to make it modern day because pop culture references are fun. And I wasn't alive in the 70's so it's hard to allude to that time. Besides, it's interesting to see how people deal without wifi hahaha. Oh my cruel intentions. Also, I have no Beta reader so any mistypes are entirely my fault. I do try my best to fix things but I'm only human!

Default: If I owned anything Harry Potter, I would have been me and not Lily who ended up with James.

When a good man and a good woman
can't find the good in each other
then a good man and a good woman
will bring out the worst in the other
the bad in each other

The Bad in Each Other, Feist

Chapter 1: Seconds Matter

Lily heaved her luggage into the pile by the train. Bags of all sizes and colours littered the floor. It was obvious that students had previously flung their bags haphazardly on the floor, too eager to see their friends after the summer break. Checking the lock on her luggage one more time for reassurance, Lily departed the baggage area and strode down the station in search of her friends.

It wasn't long before Lily spotted a tall blonde saying her goodbyes to her family. Waiting patiently, Lily absent mindedly reached for her mobile. It was habit now, after spending two months in the muggle world. Her phone offered her a great escape anytime she didn't want to deal with Petunia, and that happened frequently. She swore to merlin if anyone called her freak one more time, they'd have their head chewed up. Finally finished with her goodbyes, the blonde made her way over to Lily.

"I remember reading about those things in muggle studies. Something about always distracting the youth, especially when they haven't seen their best friends in over two months," Eva said, pulling Lily's attention away from her device.

"EVA!" Lily chimed. Quickly stuffing her mobile back in her carry-on bag, Lily wrapped her arms around her friend in excitement. "Blimey, it's been so long. And you're hair! You cut it short!" Lily tugged on a piece in appreciation. The silky strands barely brushed Eva's slender shoulders.

"I thought it was time for change. Besides, it's in fashion now darling, didn't you know?" Eva said in an overly posh accent.

Lily chuckled and reached for her own curly hair thrown up in a messy bun. "Well, we weren't all blessed with straight hair. If I even tried to cut it short, it would go on a rampage and never lay flat again."

"I don't doubt it, I've seen your struggles in the morning." Eva made a face of revulsion. All of Lily's morning hair battles coming to mind.

"Right, well, Alice should be here already," Lily said pointing to the train. It was common knowledge their third friend had a strange fear of the train leaving the station without her. "Shall we?" Lily outstretched her arm in a gentlemanly fashion.

Eva looped her arm through Lily's, giving her a polite nod and a "why thank you, kind sir." Talking animatedly, the girls made their way onto the Hogwarts Express. It only took five minutes to locate Alice in a compartment, one they had all to themselves. The short brunette eagerly greeted them, exchanging hugs and before long stories of their summer adventures. In due time, the train began its journey and left the station, chugging along at a quick pace.

"Alright Lils. Let's see this badge you covet so much," Eva demanded an hour into the ride. The blonde had taken to lounging on one of the seats, her long legs crossed over one another. Alice had taken a spot by the window while Lily sat on the floor, her bag sprawled beside her. Eagerly, the redhead delved into her backpack, pulling out the shiny Head Girl badge. It earned her satisfying ooohs and awws from her friends. "It's so shiny!" Eva said, plucking it out of Lily's hand.

"And well deserved," Alice added, smiling in Lily's direction.

"Why thank you," Lily mumbled trying hard not to smile to broadly. And it was true, the title was well deserved. The past two years had been devoted to achieving this honour. Top grades, dutiful prefect work, and exemplary behaviour had earned her the title.

Alice was next to receive the badge. "So which lucky boy gets to work alongside you?"

Lily shrugged. "No idea. Probably Remus. He's the obvious choice."

Nodding, Alice handed her back the badge. "Well Miss Head Girl, shouldn't be too long before you find out. You should probably get ready soon anyways. You're meeting starts soon, right?"

Lily pulled her mobile out from her bag, eyeing the time. "Indeed it does." Stuffing any belongings that had managed to creep out from her bag back in, Lily stood up hastily. "I will see the two of you in a little bit." With a quick wave from Alice and an over dramatic goodbye air kiss from Eva, Lily was off towards the Head Compartment. She stopped along her way in the girl's bathroom, changing from her muggle clothes to school robes. Attaching the badge below the Gryffindor crest, Lily eyed it once more before turning her attention to her appearance. Bright green eyes looked back at her in the mirror, her face haphazardly framed by her wild red hair. Glancing at the time on her mobile, Lily had exactly four minutes to fix herself up before the meeting started.

Grunting in annoyance, Lily pulled out her hair elastic with great difficulty. If her hair looked bad before, it was a monster now. "Shit," she mumbled to herself. It was important for her to make a good impression, not only to the prefects but also to the Head Boy. And she'd be damned if she showed her face looking like this. After five attempts to get a decent bun placed on top her head and forty seconds to spare, Lily exited the bathroom and continued on to the Heads Compartment.

Stopping outside, door closed, Lily gave herself a second to collect a calm demeanor. Reaching for the handle, she pulled the door open.

Empty.

Of course. There were still seventeen seconds before the meeting started. Lily let a sigh of relief out and entered, closing the door behind her. It was good to be early, she thought as she took a seat at the head of the room. It showed she meant business and would take her responsibility seriously.

Settling herself further, Lily began pulling out notes from her bag and smiled to herself. Damn, I am organized. Her colour coded notes were sure to impress the Head Boy, who was currently running thirty-five seconds late.

After three more minutes, Lily was starting to grow anxious. It wasn't long before she heard laughter on the other side of the door. Masculine laughter. Lily made a note on her top of her other notes to express being punctual in all Head duties.

The door opened and before Lily could offer a polite hello, a sneer made its way across her face.

"No."

James Potter had entered the room. The lopsided grin on his face quickly disappeared at her brutish words. "Excuse me?"

Lily sat up straighter. "I said no. As in, no you are not allowed in here. So kindly get out." This wasn't how her year was supposed to be starting. If she was lucky, she usually didn't have to deal with Potter and his imprudent antics till they reached the school. The train was a place of sanctuary.

James narrowed his eyes before squaring his shoulders. "This is the heads compartment, is it not?"

"Oh look, for once you got something right. You should be really proud. Certainly took long enough. Now get out. I have a meeting with the Head Boy and I don't need you ruining it." Lily turned her attention back to her notes, hoping James would take the obvious hint that he wasn't wanted nor needing here. After giving him a gracious amount of time to leave, Lily looked back up to see him still standing there. "Are you daft? Move it Potter. Or is your big head having a hard time getting out the door?"

James crossed his arms and leaned nonchalantly against the door frame. "I expected the Head Girl to talk a bit more politely to the Head Boy. But I really shouldn't expect anything else from you."

Lily pursed her lips and slapped her notes down on the table hard. "What are you on about?"

Running a hand through his messy hair, James let out a low breath. Lily sneered at the trade mark action. It had douchebag written all over it. "Still not putting two and two together, are we?"

Now Lily was getting frustrated. Standing up to her full height, which barely made 5'5 to his 6'1, Lily advanced on him with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "You are talking in circles and I don't have time for it," she said while jabbing a finger into his chest. She immediately regretted it as her finger hit hard muscle. Damn it, she thought dropping her hand and hoping he didn't notice her now throbbing finger. "So I will repeat myself for your slow-minded brain. Get out!"

James' eyes followed her hand as she tried to hide it in her robes. A smirk crossed his face as he brushed past her, ramming his shoulder into her smaller one. "Where are you going?" Lily pouted, trying hard not to nurse her now tender shoulder.

Slinking down into the seat beside Lily's, James spread his arms wide and rested them on the backs of the chairs. His ego could fill this whole room if I didn't bother to deflate it, she thought sullenly. With a quick movement, James reached into his pocket and threw something small and shiny at Lily. She scrambled to catch it sloppily, her breath sucking in as she realized what she was holding. A Head Boy badge.

"Who did you take this from?" she asked angrily. Now he was just toying with her. And stealing from others apparently.

James frowned before quickly changing it to a sneer. "Get over yourself, Red. I didn't steal it. It was given to me. As in I earned it."

Lily whipped the Head Boy badge back at James with great ferocity. "You're playing me."

"Only wish I was, Red."

"Stop calling me that."

"Whatever you say, Red."

"You're a foul, vulgar, obscene arse-"

"-Someone got a thesaurus for their birthday."

"-who doesn't give a damn how he affects anyone else in the world. I knew you were out to get me from day one, but this? I mean really Potter. How did you pull this one off? Who did you have to hex to get Head bloody Boy?" Lily accused with fire in her eyes. She would be damned if this was her reality for the next ten months. She would rather be trampled over by a stampede of hippogriffs than see Potter's face every day, morning, noon, and night.

James was getting aggravated now. This pesky redhead wasn't letting down, and for once he was bothering to tell the truth. "If you don't believe me, then fine. Sulk in your denial. I don't give a shit. I'm here because Dumbledore wants me here. So you're going to have to take it up with him."

That shut Lily up quickly. Dumbledore? He administered this? Had the old man gone crazy? James smiled at the now speechless Lily. He had out won her with reason. "Good. That's what I thought. Now if you would kindly control your hormones, I believe the prefects will be arriving soon."

Lily scowled at his comment but begrudgingly sat down. Making it exceedingly obvious she wanted nowhere to be near him, Lily scooted her chair a good distance away. She would remain as far away from him a physically possible. That was about the only good she could do in this situation.

The two continued to ignore each other as the prefects began to trickle in. One by one, the students began to murmur at the sight of James and Lily, their new Heads for the year. Lily kept to her notes, writing and rewriting things so as to keep herself preoccupied. James was fumbling with his shirt button, doing anything to keep his attention off the redhead to his right.

"So…" one of the prefects piped up, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Another prefect elbowed the first one in the side to shut him up, earning a disgruntled "ow." No one wanting to start another famous fight between James and Lily.

It was finally Remus, who had entered next to last, who dared break the silence. "Nice notes Lily, colour coded as usual I see," he complimented. This pulled Lily's attention off of her paper.

"Hmmm? Oh right. My notes. Yes. The meeting." Giving James once last wicked glare, Lily stood up and shook off any invisible dirt that might have landed on her robes in the last ten minutes.

It took a solid hour to get through all the notes Lily had written down. James tried to interject at the appropriate times but was continuously cut off by Lily. She wanted to make sure he knew he had no place in this meeting. Dismissing the prefects after her final note, Lily turned to James and shoved some paper in his face.

"These are the schedules for rounds this month. You will 'approve' them, and without changing them, give it back to me by tomorrow night. Our next meeting will take place Thursday night, room 304. You will not be late. You will not sass me, and you will have adjusted your attitude appropriately. If you so much as lay a finger out of line, I will have you dismissed so quickly from your Head position, you won't even know it happened. Are we clear?" Lily gave him five seconds to respond. He was lucky he was even getting that.

James sat in his chair and stared into her as if he could burn her with his eyes. "Is there anything else the control freak would like add? Or is she done?"

Lily turned to exit the room but stopped at his words. Without turning to look at him Lily sternly said, "And don't call me freak. I don't need it from you too."

Wooo hoooo! First chapter! Yay! Whatchya think? This idea is so overused, but that's why I love it. James and Lily are my number one OTP. If anyone has something they really want to see, leave it in the reviews and it may just pop up eventually in the story!

Thanks for reading! It warms my heart to know this fandom is still so strong after so long. Potterhead for life!