A/N: I was a reserve for the Falmouth Falcons' Chaser 2 for round 7 of season 4 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. My pairing was James/Lily (S.S Thorn and Buck). The word count is 2301 (excluding the author's note).
It was a balmy summer day in Cokeworth, England. Lily Evans was lying on her bed, daydreaming about finally perfecting the Draught of Living Death once she got back to Hogwarts, when her mother shouted from the kitchen, "Lily, darling, an owl's come with mail for you!"
Lily immediately jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs, her brilliant red hair streaming behind her, eager to find out what books she would need to buy for her final year, and to see if maybe, just maybe, she had been appointed Head Girl. When she entered the kitchen, Mrs. Evans handed her a large white envelope with a red seal. Lily carefully removed the seal, excitedly noting that the weight of the envelope was similar to that of the one she had received with her Prefects' badge two summers ago. When Lily reached inside and felt the hard edges of the Head Girl badge, she let out a yelp of joy.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Evans asked, looking curiously at the twinkling scarlet and gold object in Lily's hand.
"I'm Head Girl!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes glowing with happiness. "Oh, Mum, I'm so excited! I knew I had a chance of getting it, but I was never certain that the Headmaster would choose me over that pesky Ravenclaw prefect. Now, I wonder who the Head Boy will be? Perhaps Remus? Dumbledore may have reservations about him since he's part of Potter's little gang, though." Lily's eyes widened when something occurred to her. "Oh, Mum, what if the Head Boy doesn't want to work with me? What if we end up as the worst Heads in Hogwarts history? What if—"
"Lily, I'm sure that you will be a splendid Head Girl, no matter who the Head Boy is," Mrs. Evans interrupted, smiling with pride for her daughter's achievement.
"I sure hope so," Lily replied with a slightly anxious grin. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath before pinning her badge to her blouse.
This year is going to be the best one yet, she thought as her mother left the kitchen to tell her father the good news. I'm going to be the greatest Head Girl to ever set foot in Hogwarts.
The first day of September had finally arrived, and the Hogwarts Express was filled with the chatter of students, new and returning, as they headed towards their home away from home for the next school year. Lily Evans, with her Head Girl badge glistening in the late summer sunlight that streamed through the train's windows, headed towards the end of the train for the meeting of this year's Heads and Prefects. As she walked, she was greeted by more than a few shouts of congratulations from her classmates. When Lily reached the last compartment on the train, she heard a familiar voice shout, "Oi, Evans!"
Sighing, she turned around and was greeted by the unwelcome sight of a tall, messy-haired boy with round glasses. "Potter, what are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms. "This is a meeting for Prefects and Heads only, and you are most definitely not part of the group."
"Oh, really? Well, then why did this shiny little badge come with my Hogwarts letter?" Grinning widely, James pulled a scarlet and gold badge from his pocket and held it up for Lily to see.
It should be noted that before this moment, Lily had not the slightest inkling of who was actually appointed Head Boy. She had a few guesses, of course, but she never even considered James Potter as a candidate for Head Boy. And so, when she saw the badge in his hand, she was shocked speechless for several moments.
"I was quite surprised, y'know," he continued, pinning the badge to his robes. "Sirius nearly died of laughter when I got the letter. He thought Remus would be Head Boy, but I suppose, er, well… Dumbledore thought that you'd have more fun working with me?" James glanced at Lily's face, and then raised an eyebrow at her gaping mouth. "Evans? You haven't died on me, have you?"
"It can't be…" she whispered, finally regaining control of her vocal muscles. "You weren't even a prefect!"
James shrugged carelessly. "What can I say? My stellar track record must speak for itself. Anyway, looking forward to working with you, Evans." Then, with a wink and an amused chuckle, James strode into the compartment, leaving behind a thoroughly shaken Head Girl.
"James Potter… is Head Boy?" Lily said slowly, leaning against the compartment door. "Is this a nightmare? Oh Merlin, I must be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or both." Lily pinched her arm, yelping at the pain that confirmed that she was, indeed, awake. Burying her head in her hands, Lily let out a moan of despair. "This is going to be an awful year," she muttered forlornly.
After the welcome feast, Lily raced to the Head dormitory, still upset that James Potter was Head Boy. All she wanted at the moment was to indulge in a bit of self-pity, preferably in the comfort of her bed.
"Of all the Seventh Years, he just had to pick Potter," she muttered as she hurried up the stairs. "James Potter, possibly the most arrogant, obnoxious person on the entire planet. You'd think that with the amount of trouble he and his cronies have caused, he would be the last person Dumbledore would consider. But no! No. He's the bloody Head Boy."
"You know, Evans, they say that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," a loud voice called from behind her.
Potter. Taking a deep breath, Lily tried to keep herself from screaming in frustration. After all, she had to work with him for the rest of the year, and Lily was nothing if not responsible. But Godric, was his voice obnoxious. Full of swagger and false charm and arrogance…
No, I will not let him get to me. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Lily bit back a harsh retort and settled for rolling her eyes instead.
Lily heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and a few seconds later, James had caught up to her. "Come on, Evans, I'm not that bad, am I? Can't we at least try to get along?"
"Who says I'm not trying?"
"Well, by the scowl on your face, I'd say you're not trying very hard, if at all."
"Look, Potter," Lily said, stopping in front of a portrait of a dozing wizard with a drooping mustache. "Up until now, all you've been is an arrogant bully. I certainly have no idea why Dumbledore would appoint you as Head Boy, and to be frank, I don't think you're worthy of the honor. Do you even know what the word 'responsibility' means?" Biting her lip, Lily pretended to ignore the hurt look on his face. "Anyway, it's late. Try not to annoy me until I've gotten some sleep, alright?"
Lily whispered the password to the room, and when the portrait swung open, she stepped inside without a backwards glance.
It was late October at Hogwarts, and if Lily were to be honest with herself, the past two months had gone by remarkably smoothly. Her classes were as interesting as always, her homework load was heavy but entirely manageable, and James was proving to be a rather decent Head Boy. He hadn't hexed anyone in the hallways (as far as she knew) and he actually showed up on time for meetings and patrols. Moreover, he hadn't once asked her out on a date this year. However, Lily was still a bit wary of the new and improved James Potter. Could he really have changed so much since the previous year? Or was he just biding his time and gaining her trust before pulling some outrageous prank?
"Just don't think about him," she told herself as she walked towards the library. "After all, I still haven't started that Charms essay. This is no time to get distracted by—what was that noise?" Lily narrowed her eyes and looked around the near-empty hallway. She reached into her bag and pulled her wand out, automatically assuming a defensive position, when she heard the sound again—a loud bang followed by what sounded like… laughter?
Hugging the wall, she walked towards the far end of the hallway that the sound came from, wand outstretched. Listening carefully, she could just barely make out voices coming from an abandoned classroom. She dropped her bag on the ground, and then continued walking when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, heart pounding, several dozen curses on the tip of her tongue, but then saw that it was just the Head Boy.
"Merlin, Potter, don't ever sneak up on me like that again!" she exclaimed, dropping her wand hand to her side.
"Sorry," he said with a shrug. "So, what do you reckon is going on in here?" he asked, nodding at the classroom.
Lily pursed her lips, deciding that asking James how he had appeared behind her so suddenly would just waste time. "I don't know. It could just be some students pulling a prank, or it could be something… worse." Her gaze drifted towards the classroom, and she wondered if a certain Slytherin was behind the door. What would she do if he was doing something… dark?
"Right. Let's go see, then," James said, already walking towards the door.
Lily nodded and followed him, anxiety tugging at her chest. What if it's Severus and his friends? What if those rumors are true and they really are up to no good? Should we get Dumbledore?
Before she could figure out a more concrete plan, James unlocked the door with a quick spell and kicked it open. The second he stepped into the room, someone inside the room shot a curse at him, which he barely countered.
"Evans, go get a professor!" James shouted as he frantically blocked a few more spells.
"Are you insane, Potter?" she screamed, hurrying into the room. "I'm not leaving you here! Do you have a death wish or something?" Huffing, she cast a shield charm and rushed into the fray, blocking two nasty hexes and casting a few of her own. Within a few minutes of duelling, she and James managed to knock out one male student with a silver and green tie and bind the other two. Breathing heavily, Lily looked around at the room. A desk had been turned over during the fight, and a cauldron with a hissing mixture was placed in the middle of the room, surrounded by scattered ingredients and potions books.
Lily stepped over the Slytherin students, none of whom she recognized, and peered at the potion. Her eyes widened when she recognized a few of the ingredients and she whirled around. "Potter, there's hemlock and baneberry in that potion… good Godric, they wanted to poison someone. If they mixed in a bit of bloodroot they'd have something quite lethal on their hands. We have to report this to the Headmaster at once."
"What about them?" James gestured at the students.
"You go and get Dumbledore. I'll stay here with them."
James hesitated.
"I'll be fine," Lily said, waving a dismissive hand. "Just be quick."
James nodded, and then turned and headed out of the room. Before he reached the door, Lily called out, "You know, I think I was wrong about you. I'm glad you were here today; we make a good team… James."
The Head Boy stopped. Then, he turned back towards Lily with a hopeful grin. "Does this mean you'll finally go out with me?"
"Maybe," she replied slyly. "But first, let's get this business sorted out."
"All right, I can work with that," James said before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
A week later, Lily and James were strolling through Hogsmeade, both clad in coats and scarves to keep away the chill in the November air.
"You're a riot, did you know that, Evans?" James said, shaking with laughter. "Who knew that the Head Girl had such a sense of adventure?"
"Oh, stop it," Lily said, blushing. "Now you're just overreacting."
"No, I really don't think I am. You, trying to sneak into a bar at the age of fourteen? I'd pay to see that spectacle."
Lily huffed and crossed her arms. "If I'd known you'd be this obnoxious about it, I wouldn't have told you."
"And deprive me of the entertainment I'll get when I imagine how the whole ordeal played out? How cruel."
Lily rolled her eyes, but her lips were twitching into a smile.
"Anyway," James continued, attempting to look nonchalant. "Now that you've gone on a proper date with me, what do you think? Am I still an 'arrogant, bullying toerag'?"
Lily paused, appearing to deliberate the question. "No, I suppose you're only a toerag of the mildly annoying variety."
James smiled, seeming to be pleased by her response. "I think you like me," he teased.
Lily scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I've only just gotten over my revulsion, after all. I'm still questioning my decision to be here with you."
"Well," James said softly, stopping in the middle of the street. "I think I know something that might help you decide."
"What do you mean?" Lily turned to face the boy she used to greatly dislike, but now… well, she wasn't entirely sure what she felt about him now.
James looked into Lily's vibrant green eyes, took a breath, and then leaned forwards, pressing his lips against hers. A few seconds later, he pulled away, hoping that Lily wouldn't hex him to hell and back. However, she merely smiled and decided that she had indeed made the right choice to give James a second chance.