Disclaimer: I am not JKR and therefore own nothing that you recognize.

The Best Man

Tap. Tap tap. James groaned and shoved a pillow over his head at whatever the annoying noise was that had infiltrated his pleasant dreams of Evans and chocolate sauce. Tap. Tap.

"Go away!" Moments later a door opened and footsteps drew nearer to his bed. James heard the familiar bark-like laugh of someone who ruffled his hair affectionately and then a creak of a window being opened. "…Si?"

He took the pillow away from his head and blinked at the sunlight. Sirius was standing at the window to let in the two owls that had been the source of James's unwelcome awakening. They were unfamiliar, handsome and tawny, so both boys recognized them as Hogwarts birds instantly.

"Prongs, can you get some of Hyronomus's food from the cupboard?" Sirius requested, referring to his own, midnight-colored owl.

James tried for a half-hearted glare but Sirius just sent him that smile that melted hearts and he gave in.

"Fine," he grumbled, and began searching for slippers and a dressing gown. It was several moments before his still comatose brain reminded him that he was at Sirius's flat and didn't have them.

"Here." Sirius took off his own slippers and handed them to James before beginning to untie the letters.

James padded out of the spare room and into the main area of his best friend's flat. Sirius had bought it just a couple months ago, with the money left to him by his uncle. It had originally been a simple, one-bedroom apartment on the nicer side of London, but since both James and Sirius were now legally able to do magic, they had transformed it into a jumble of enchanted rooms that bore only a slight resemblance to the original layout.

"Accio Owl Treats," James flicked his wand, realizing too late that he could have summoned them just as well from the bedroom.

"Was wondering if you would remember that," Sirius grinned as his best friend reentered the room. Both letters were free and the owls were resting.

"Tosser," the other boy accused, with no heat in his voice whatsoever as he tossed the bag at Sirius. "You opened 'em?"

"Nope." Sirius caught the Owl Treats easily. He batted his eyes at his best friend, looking remarkably like a girl as he did so. "Was waiting for you, Jamie, m'love."

"Don't call me that," James said easily, for what must have been the thousandth time as he swung down onto the floor next to his best friend and grabbed the letter with his name on it. "Right, on three then?"

"One-" Sirius started the count-off.

"Two…"

"Three!!" They tore into the letters at the same time.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as Head Boy for the class of 1978…

James looked up at Sirius, and was surprised to find that he wasn't even watching for James's reaction to the prank.

"Oh very funny, you are." Honestly, James had expected far better from his best mate.

"Hmmm?" Sirius looked up in apparent confusion.

"You know, I expected more from you at least," he began severely, "This is the sort of prank Peter or someone would pull, not…" he trailed off as he recognized the very real look of complete bewilderment on Sirius's face.

"What are you on about Prongs?" Sirius set his letter down and peered at James in concern. "You haven't been expelled have you? Did they find out about that thing with the giant squid last term? Because that was really my idea. Or- wait, they don't know about the-" Sirius lowered his voice "-Animagus thing do they?"

James managed to shake his head.

"Well thank Merlin for that at least, we don't need you going to Azkaban as well. What was it then? The Ashwinder incident? I thought we were pardoned because of the-"

"No." James finally managed to croak. "No, I…it's not…I'm not expelled."

Sirius bit his bottom lip, looking confused, but very much relieved as well. "Well what then? They didn't take the captaincy away from you, did-"

"No, Si, just- hold up a moment, I…it's…"

Sirius shut up obediently but the anxious expression on his face intensified. "James-" he started, reaching for the other boy's hand, face completely sober for once.

"I'm Head Boy," James managed to gasp out.

And then he passed out.

He regained consciousness perhaps only moments later, as Sirius's hands moved behind his back and legs in order to lift him onto the guest bed. "Thanks mate." If it were anyone else, James would have probably died from embarrassment, but he and Sirius had been closer than brothers for nearly six years and rarely, if ever, got embarrassed around each other anymore.

Sirius hopped on as well, leaning against a bedpost with an amused expression on his face. James sat up as well and glared at him feebly. "If you tell anyone at school…"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You know I wouldn't. And besides,-" his mouth twisted into a smirk, -"you might give me detention."

James groaned. "What was McGonagall thinking, Padfoot? I'm James Potter. I've had more detentions than anyone else in the history of the school besides you! I nearly started an interspecies war with the centaurs in fourth year! I-" he paused mid-sentence at the thoughtful look on Sirius's face.

"First, mate, I seriously doubt Minnie darlingest was responsible for this. It has Dumbledore's fingerprints all over it. Second, he knows that Moony really hasn't done any good controlling us, so he probably decided to just go straight to the source. Seeing as it's Dumbledore, he probably even realizes that you find it impossible to not do a responsibility like this wholeheartedly. He's also probably watched you as captain-"

"Quidditch!" James wailed, interrupting. "I'm gonna go bloody insane trying to win the cup again and be Head Boy!"

"-and seen how much the team respects and listens to you." Sirius continued, ignoring the outburst. "Honestly Prongs, you'll be a brilliant Head Boy. And even if we have to tone down the pranking a bit- or cover it up better," he amended at the look on James's face, "it'll still have its uses."

James allowed his lips to twitch a little. "Detentions for Snivilly?" he suggested in an innocent tone.

"Can't have people hexing the Head Boy," Sirius agreed solemnly. "And there are house points as well. And you have free cause to be roaming the corridors at night. And access to the prefects bathroom."

James brightened a little at this. "About time. Bloody Moony being such a stickler about not giving us the password…"

Sirius returned his grin. "And," he paused dramatically, "you know who's most likely to be Head Girl…" he trailed off smugly.

James fell off the bed, hitting his head and swiftly returning to unconsciousness.

The rumors on the platform spread like wildfire.

"Did you-?"

"No one in their right mind-"

"James Potter-"

"A prank maybe?"

"Head Boy-"

"-finally gone round the bend-"

"-must have been a Confundus-"

Necks craned, every student strained to find the tall seventh year, but he was nowhere to be seen, nor were his three best friends. And a pale, agitated looking Lily Evans refused to answer any questions, finally storming onto the train and presumably finding refuge in some empty compartment.

The sorting that year seemed to take much longer than usual. Before Professor McGonagall had made it even halfway through the new arrivals, the restlessness of the older pupils was almost tangible. The only students that seemed to be unaffected were the four boys who sat at the center of the Gryffindor table. James and Sirius were nearly oblivious to the drama as they reveled in the attention that they were attracting. Around them, the tension was heightening as the main course turned into dessert. Soon enough, that too had disappeared, and Dumbledore finally began to talk.

The headmaster's words and warnings washed over the ears of the students as they fixated upon the ringleaders of the infamous Marauders, only occasionally glancing at Lily, who seemed quite exasperated at the attention James was receiving.

"…And lastly tonight, I wish to present your new Head Girl and Boy…," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as the entire hall seemed to take a great breath and lean towards him, "…Lily Evans and James Potter."

A rather stunned silence filled the Great Hall. Because whatever the rumors had said, no one had really expected them to be true. It was nearly unthinkable that the great untamable James Potter, mischief-maker extraordinaire, could actually have been named for the position.

In fact it was so unthinkable that many students still believed it to be a prank. Albeit a confusing and rather uncharacteristic one, but a prank nonetheless. Now if they could just figure out why….

Then the man himself stood up and gave the rest of the hall a deep bow. As he moved to return to his seat, Sirius slapped his back and whispered something in his ear, causing James to grin. Sirius winked at him and then jumped onto the table and started to clap. Moments later, the entire hall was roaring in applause. Up at the staff table, many professors joined in, while the others just shook their heads, amused.

As the applause died, Sirius sat back down, looking extraordinarily pleased with himself. Chuckling a bit, Dumbledore finally dismissed them all to bed.

That night, the rumors began to fly. Whispers were heard of blackmail, bribery, Confundus charms, and even the Imperius Curse. As time wore on though, the stories became more in depth and fanatical.

There was talk that the Potters had insisted that their son be Head Boy and threatened to compromise Hogwarts security secrets if their wishes were denied. Some said that Dumbledore was attempting to resist Lord Voldemort by promoting anarchy. A few held fast to their belief that the whole thing was a tremendous prank, designed simply to bewilder and psychologically torture the general student body. But as time went on, the most common speculation was that James Potter had in fact been kidnapped and replaced by an alien double.

There were several flaws in this theory, the most obvious being that Sirius Black would most definitely have noticed if his best mate had been acting strangely or in an alien-like manner. However, for several months, this was the best guess of anyone.

And then it became known that James Potter had begun to date Lily Evans. And that started the wildest hypothesis of all: James Potter…had changed.

Naturally, there were some who found this to be a bit too improbable, but as the first term drew to an end and no evidence of wrongdoing had been found, most students were forced to draw that conclusion…

Lily Evans yawned and stretched out to lay her head on her boyfriend's stomach, squinting over at his best friend. "I can't believe this is our last day here," she commented softly.

Sirius grinned, both at the redhead and James, who was lying flat on his back, eyes closed, apparently basking in the sun. "I know," he agreed. "Everything's going to be for real now." He was silent for a long moment, face unusually somber as he contemplated the war they would soon be entering. Then suddenly he shook himself, and smiled, stretching out his foot to poke James's shoulder. "Reckon people finally believe you're actually Head Boy now?"

James grinned lazily, not opening his eyes. "Doesn't particularly matter now. I did my job. The people here are just idiots."

Lily snorted. "Don't tell me you didn't think it was some sort of prank when you got your letter."

"He did," Sirius chuckled. And he-" he stopped just as James's eyes snapped open to give him a warning look. "Never mind. We were very surprised though."

Lily looked from him to James with intrest. "What did you do?"

Sirius snickered softly but pressed his mouth shut. James turned the color of his girlfriend's hair and bit his lip.

"I might have sorta…you know, it really isn't-"

"Tell me!" Lily demanded, sitting up straight and turning to look at him. "Jaaaaaames!"

James squeezed his eyes shut. "I might have, kind of….passed out." He said in a rush. "Just for a couple seconds. From the shock."

"Twice," coughed Sirius gleefully. James would have glared at him if he wasn't busy turning an interesting shade of crimson.

"That doesn't count!" he protested feebly. Lily bent over and kissed him.

"Poor you. I'm sure it was quite the shock."

Sirius snorted again and James regarded his girlfriend suspiciously. "Is that an insult?"

Lily covered her mouth in an attempt to disguise her laugh. "Well I don't believe any of us ever quite figured out why exactly Dumbledore picked you…"

"Perhaps," interrupted an amused voice from behind them. All three turned to see their headmaster standing in the sunlight, eyes twinkling. "Perhaps he thought you were the best man for the job."

Et fin. Happy Valentine's Day (even though this barely has any romance whatsoever. It gave me a deadline.)