Chapter 1 – The Hogwarts Express

The Hogwarts Express in its splendor was a large train that was shining red and black in the evening time sunshine. The date was September first, and like so many September first's before this one, it was carrying young people with eager minds to their school year home. This was no ordinary train, and it was leaving from no ordinary location carrying some not so ordinary school aged young people.

The day long journey had embarked from King's Cross Station in London England on a platform that was not marked. The platform it took off from was called nine and three quarters, and several hours previous it had been packed with men and women wearing cloaks and boulder hats waving goodbye to children boarding the train wearing similar attire and carrying pet owls, rats and frogs. The train's ultimate location was a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it was located in a place where no ordinary trains ventured. The above mentioned school appeared to the ordinary eye to be a beat up and run down old building, but to the occupants of the train it was a place called home. To them it was a large castle with strong stone walls, welcoming teachers, and a wonderful expanse of green ground with a beautiful lake along side. The magic surrounding the castle was a strong kind of magic and for some it housed the power to be there with loved ones, for others to learn until one's heart was content and for others still, the magic presented opportunities for a lifetime of mysterious adventures.

The occupants of the train all looked out of their windows in awe to see home again after two months of vacation. The wait had been too long for some and not long enough for others, however to see Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sparked a certain kind of joy among many students. In war times cheer was always welcomed, but sometimes misery ate at even the best of entertainers.

"Prongs mate, look out the window. We're finally home!" said the voice of a sandy haired boy named Remus Lupin.

James Potter looked up from the latest edition of his favorite quidditch magazine, to see his friends looking at him expectantly. He forced a small grin and uttered a response.

"Moony, Wormtail and I were thinking that for our first prank we should put a put a potion in Slytherin's drinks before breakfast tomorrow morning," Sirius Black said clapping his best mate on the shoulder. "You remember that great idea you had in fourth year to change Evans' hair green? Well it went off splendidly, so I figured we could slip a bit of that potion, except with red of course, into their drinks. Nothing says welcome back to Hogwarts like sporting Gryffindor colors."

James appreciated the efforts his friends were putting in to cheering him up, but his mates were tactless in reminding him of a past he regretted. He felt like a much different person sitting there in that moment than he had in his past six years.

In his life James Potter had suffered his fair share of burdens and tragedies. He had always learned to cover a frown with a smile, a disappointment with a laugh and to take everything in stride. James was aware that if he could run fast enough burdens would have a hard time catching up, and that way he didn't have to look any particular looming monsters in the eye.

He had a positive force on his side in the form of his best mates. They had been there through thick and thin since the tender age of eleven years old. There were four of them who called themselves the Marauders, the name told of their devotion and loyalty. The four, however could not have been more different. James was the fearless leader and quidditch captain, popular among the students for his sense of humor and strikingly defining looks. Sirius Black was the always outspoken prankster, who had girls flocking to him because of his long and elegant black hair and deep black eyes. Remus Lupin was a quiet boy who could put an end to an intellectual battle with a quick and easy fight, he put a lot of time into staying out of the public eye and focusing on his studies. Peter Pettigrew was a small mousey, watery-eyed boy who had no defining personality traits; however he was well spoken and always listened for the latest news around the castle.

These boys appeared to be that and more on the outside but on the inside one would find immensely caring friends, who could slip past the ever fronted exterior to find what was really happening in the head or the heart.

James, sitting in the train pondered how this year would fair out. Certainly it would not be the same as the last six, because without his driving force he found himself spinning out of control. The loss of his parents the past month was devastating and the sympathy of strangers or even the devotion of his best mates could help. James kept on running, but there was an impending monster that could not be hoaxed for much longer before there would be a face to face encounter of the cruelest kind.

"Potter, it's time for patrols," said a voice from the doorway to the compartment he shared with his three friends. He looked up to see none other than Lily Evans standing at the door waiting for him to fulfill his Head Boy duties.

It had come as a shock to the boys when James had been named Head Boy. Of course they had pegged the position for Remus, but James had certainly done a lot of maturing in the past year or so and his grades remained steady, it therefore seemed only sensible that Dumbledore choose the more outgoing of the two. It had come as even more of a shock to Lily Evans, who was the head girl to his Head Boy. She had screamed to her parents for about ten minutes before owling Potter himself to clarify the mistake in her letter. Lily soon discovered that it was not a mistake, and by the looks of James' shiny gold badge inscribed with the letter "H" she would be spending a year in his company.

"I'll be there in just a moment." James signed and took one more look across the sunset from his window before giving a weak smile to his friends and following the girl out the doors.

As they walked down the corridor there was a silence between the two of them. So much had changed in the world since they had last encountered each other two months ago, and neither was quite sure of how to break the silence that resided between them. In June when they had parted James had been quite as infatuated with Lily as he was for the two year previous, and Lily was still passionate as ever about her hatred for James.

"I was really sorry to hear about your parents James." Lily said looking over at him through nervous green eyes.

James just nodded his head looking down at the floor littered in chocolate frog wrappers. He could imagine the look passing on Lily's face, her fair skin tinted red, her lips in a tight line, her emerald green almond shaped eyes that he loved to gaze into filled with pity as her auburn curls framed around her slender face. He had hardly seen anything but that facial expression on peoples' faces for the past month and he didn't need to see it on Lily.

When James did look up not only was he surprised but he knew that she was not going to treat him like everyone else had been treating him. She would treat him like she always had, and he had never felt more thankful for her contempt. For years he had wished that she would see him in the same light he saw her, he had refined his ways to help in the process, but in that very moment James had never been more grateful to her for seeing the worst of him.

"Don't worry about it."

"You know I'm really sorry for the letters I sent you; at the time I had no idea. It wasn't really until Mary told me that it happened that I knew and I felt terrible. I mean there you were suffering and I was sitting there thinking 'James Potter is head boy and therefore Dumbledore must have been going out of his mind' and I was writing you terrible…"

James noted Lily's tendency to ramble on and raised his eyes to her face and gave his first real smile in days, "Not to worry Evans, those letters were a nice change in pace from the sympathy oozing from everyone else. Truth be told, it felt great to have something not affected by Voldemort, even if it was your dislike for me and the authority I now hold."

Lily gasped appropriately at the proper usage of the real name for He Who Must Not Be Named, but did not respond.

The two walked in silence until the end of the train where they were to accept the busy task of directing terrified first years into the hands of Hagrid. The rest of the students had already boarded carriages to go back to the school and only soon only James and Lily were standing on the platform in Hogsmeade village under the moonlight. Lily soon caught a glimpse of her girl friends up the path waiting and as she started to walk away.

James glanced up to see her dancing down the path in the moonlight, and knew he hadn't felt the way his heart was feeling in a long time. "Hey, Lily!"

Lily turned around her back to the moonlight so that James could not clearly see her face. "What is it Potter?"

By the tone in her voice she was trying to be patient with him. James grinned and walked down the short distance in the well trodden dirt path to meet her before responding, "You look lovely tonight."

"Sod off Potter."

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

This is my third stab at writing Lily/James fanfiction and I'm certain that this time I have a good game plan. I know my characters, I know where I end up and I know how to get there. I can't promise weekly updates, but I can try my best for updates as close together as possible.

The following chapters are longer than this, chapter one is almost like a prologue.

Please read and review.