Why Don't You and I?
James Potter stood in his room staring at the shiny piece of metal that he had grasped in his hand. He wasn't sure how long he had been standing like this, but at that moment in time he wasn't sure that he could bring himself to care. His brain was much too focused on processing this information that he knew must be true, but he could not bring himself to believe. He rapidly blinked his eyes clearing his vision and reassuring himself that the depiction in front of him was not some figment of his imagination. Earlier, when his Hogwarts letter first arrived, he had pinched himself confirming that this was not a dream. The aforementioned letter was not strewn upon his bed, completely forgotten, as he continued to stare at the object in his hand.
Clearly inscribed across the smooth surface of the object in a thick block print were the words Head Boy. It still seemed too surreal for James to even comprehend, but no matter what he did, it was impossible for him to refute the evidence that sat so clearly in front of his face. By some twist of fate he had been selected to be head boy out of all of the other seventh year boys. He tried to place himself in his professors' shoes and figure just what exactly they had been thinking when they had awarded him this position. James knew he had the grades to qualify for the position – even without trying he always managed to get O's in all of his classes with ease. That was the first and only thing James could think of that would recommend him to becoming Head Boy. He knew that even though he obtained excellent marks each term, his work ethic was not something to be looked upon proudly and he often spent most of his time in class planning pranks with Sirius rather than paying attention to his professors. He also knew that most, if not all, of his professors were of aware of this fact because he more often than not ended up in detention due to his tardiness and lack of attention.
Since his arrival at Hogwarts, James had been informed, by more than one ghost who had overheard a conversation in the teacher's lounge stating that he and Sirius had broken the long standing records for most detentions received at Hogwarts. In fact, one of these informants had even speculated that they may have doubled the record in its entirety. Although James saw this accomplishment as a point of pride for Sirius and himself, he doubted that it was looked upon kindly by the professors when they were choosing him for the position of Head Boy. This then brought him back to original point of confusion: how had he been selected for this position over all of the other boys in his year? Unless every other boy in his year had been mysteriously enrolled in another school, which even he had to admit was highly unlikely, there must have been some other poor sap who was much more qualified for this position than he would ever be.
He could name one person who deserved this more than himself off the top of his head. His friend Remus, who had been a prefect for the last two years, would be much better suited to the role of Head Boy. Although Remus was involved in his own share of pranks, he rarely got caught and was therefore a much more model student in the eyes of the teachers. He also always paid attention in class and did everything he could to toe the line. The only class he struggled in was potions, but the teachers couldn't really hold one class against him, especially because he dropped it after taking his O.W.L.s. The only reasonable explanation that James could come up with at the present moment was that all of his professors had been hit with a confundus charm before they had made their final decision.
As he stood there contemplating this new theory, James heard the boisterous footsteps of his best friend, a couple floors down, making their way up to the stairs that led to his bedroom. He knew that in a very short time Sirius would be bursting into his room to plan their yearly Diagon Alley trip. Looking back down to his hand, James eyed the door to his room wearily. In just a few moments he knew that he would be on the receiving end of a line of never-ending jokes from Sirius. Sirius was nearly unbearable when Remus, who they all agreed deserved to be a Prefect, had obtained his badge. James could not imagine what Sirius would be like when he saw the Head Boy badge. Making a split second decision, James slipped the badge in the pocket of his pants, deciding that he would break the news to his best friend at a later time, possible at the start of term feast. At that exact moment Sirius threw open his door and came bounding in with a large smile across his face.
"Prongs! This is it buddy, our last trip to Diagon Alley together as students!" Sirius made this statement excitedly as he threw himself upon James' bed.
Ever since the two of them had met on the train ride first year, they had been inseparable and had never missed going to Diagon Alley with one another. Normally, this trip involved a lot of strategic planning so that Sirius could sneak out of his house without his parents knowing – they didn't much care for his association with other Gryffindors. However, this summer was going to be much more convienient. A few weeks into the summer, Sirius had shown up at the Potter Manor one night, unannounced. This in itself was not a new occurrence because Sirius often showed up at James' house with any notification, often at whatever time of day or night suited his fancy. This time, however, he carried with him a trunk and a determination to never return to his parent's house that the Potters had not seen before. Most often, even when he and his parents had a big fight, he would state that he was only going to stay a couple days so things could cool off at home. This time, however, he declared that he would never return to that house as long as his parents existed under the roof.
As always, James' parents welcomed Sirius into the house with open arms and told him that he was welcome to stay as long as he needed to. James had spent many weeks trying to get his friend to tell him what exactly had happened to make him leave his house for good, but in the end received no further information about what had transpired. In fact, about two weeks into James pushing Sirius for more information, Sirius actually snapped, yelling at James to mind his own business. He had never seen Sirius as mad as he had been that day, as Sirius was often very relaxed and unaffected, so James decided to let the conversation drop. Whatever had happened between him and his parents had obviously affected Sirius and James figured Sirius would talk about it if and when he wanted to. He quickly shifted his focus to joining Sirius in having as much fun as the possibly could during their last summer before they turned to Hogwarts.
"…and I was thinking we should get Moony and Wormtail to get their butts down to Diagon Alley when we go." James snapped from his thoughts, only to realize that Sirius had been continuing to ramble on this entire time.
"Sounds good Padfoot. Should we pick you up some dog treats while we are there?" James ducked as a pillow went soaring by his head.
"That was one time! So did you see our booklist for this year? I swear the professors get together and find the toughest books they can give us." Sirius looked down at the pile of papers laying all over James' bed. "Did you get assigned different books than me or something? You have a lot more papers here than I got…"
James' eyes widened as Sirius reached over and grabbed the top piece of paper, containing his Head Boy instructions. Before James could even react, Sirius began reading the paper, his eyes growing wider and wider the more he read. James closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, waiting on his friend's inevitable action. Sirius did not disappoint either. Within moments, James heard roaring laughter coming from Sirius' direction. He cautiously opened his eyes to see Sirius clutching his sides with tears streaming down his face from the intense laughter. James stood there and crossed his arms, knowing that it would be impossible to speak to his friend until he had calmed himself down. Five whole minutes later, Sirius had finally regained control of himself to the point where the only thing escaping from his lips was a chuckle and h was able to wipe the tears streaming down his face.
"Prongs…that's a good one…I almost bought it for a minute…" Sirius managed to choke this out between his gasping breaths as his tried to calm himself down the rest of the way.
"It's not a joke Padfoot."
"You can give it up Prongs…I already said you got me good." Sirius gave him a smirk and James frowned a bit.
"I'm being serious…"
"Well stop being me then!"
James rolled his eyes at the vastly overused pun and reached into his pocket. Grasping the badge, he took a deep breath and withdrew it from its hiding place. Without giving himself time to second guess his decision, he tossed the badge to Sirius and watched as it landed in his friends lap. Sirius raised his eyebrow at James, a grin still plastered on his face, and reached down to pick up the object that had landed on his person. James watched as Sirius studied the badge with a look of surprise. Sirius then looked up at James, back down at the badge and then back up at James. He seemed to repeat this process a few more times before he allowed himself to attempt to speak.
"You…you…you…Head Boy?" The last part came out as a yelp. "This has to be a mistake."
"It's no mistake. You saw the letter, it is addressed to me." James sighed and fell back onto his bed in front of Sirius – he knew this would be a long conversation.
"It has to be. No one in their right mind would ever give you Head Boy." James sat up at this,
"Why not?"
"Because you're you! You play pranks and sleep in class and…and…it just can't be you!" James covered his face with is hands,
"Well it is me and it stinks. Now I have to be…responsible." He spit that word out like it was poison.
This was the thing that had been worrying James since he had originally opened that letter. James knew on some level that he was going to have to grow up at some point, especially now that he would be graduating this year. He never thought that it would have to be this soon. He thought he would spend his last year at Hogwarts causing mayhem and having as much fun as he could with his three best friends. Now he was going to have to follow the rules and actually show some maturity. He shivered at the thought. He kept thinking about everything that would be expected of him and it made him nervous. He wasn't sure he could live up to all of the expectations that would surely be laid on his shoulders this year. He wasn't given much time to dwell on this fact because Sirius suddenly leapt from the bed with a mischievous look upon his face.
"Wait a minute Prongs, this is great! Now that you are Head Boy think of the possibilities. Think of the things that we could get away with. You have an excuse to be out after curfew, it's expected of you! You're also able to go pretty much wherever you want in the castle. Think about all the pranks we can pull. This is going to be the best year yet!" Sirius began pacing back and forth in the room rubbing his hands together.
James let out the breath he had been holding. This year might not be so bad at all. In fact, there were a lot of possibilities open to them if they used them properly. James chuckled, he was lucky to have a best friend like Sirius. Otherwise, he might have gone crazy trying to act like a Head Boy. He hadn't asked for the positon, so why should he change his plans for the year to accommodate this position that was thrust upon him unexpectedly? If the teachers didn't like the way he handled the position, they shouldn't have picked him in the first place.
"You're right Padfoot, now we need to come up with some wicked pranks for this year." Sirius looked at James like a thought had just occurred to him,
"You need to go show that badge to your mom right now! There's no way she could keep saying no to you getting a new broom if you show her your shiny new Head Boy badge."
Without a moment's hesitation, James grabbed the badge from Sirius' hands and raced out his bedroom door. Navigating his large house with an ease that came from living in it since he was a baby, he quickly located his mother out in her garden having her afternoon tea. He skidded to a stop right in front of her and stood there with his most serious face. He made sure to keep his hands behind his back, concealing the badge from her view.
"Mum I need to talk to you." His mother sighed and set down her cup of tea,
"What could have possible done now James?" Although her face was serious, he could hear a hint of joking in her voice.
"Sirius and I got our Hogwarts letters in the mail today and look what came with mine…" He paused dramatically before tossing her the badge he had been concealing.
His mother had pretty much the same reaction as Sirius had, minus the laughter. She sat there for quite a few moments just looking back and forth between the badge and him. She opened her mouth a few times to speak, but quickly closed it. This continued on until finally she cleared her throat and looked at James with a confused stare.
"Are you sure? This isn't some kind of prank is it?" James huffed,
"Is it really that hard to believe that I would be made Head Boy?" His mother raised an eyebrow at him,
"To be quite honest, yes it is." James laughed despite himself,
"Well I don't know what to tell you. I got a letter congratulating me on being selected to be Head Boy and you are holding the badge in your hand."
Before he knew what was happening, James' mother rose from her seat and rushed over to him, engulfing him a large hug. James' struggled to release himself from her grip, but realized the effort was fruitless because the more he tried to get away the tighter she held on. He eventually just gave in stood there until she finally released him from her grasp. Still gripping his shoulders, she began to speak,
"James I am so proud of you! After all the reports I have received from your professors about your behavior I never thought…well that doesn't matter. What matters is you have been Head Boy! You must have made a good impression somehow. I can't even express how happy I am right now." James grinned, this was the moment,
"So are you happy enough to get me that new broom I've been asking about all summer?"
A/N: So I hope you guys like my new story. Reviews are always appreciated!