Lily Evans didn't know how to explain it. In fact, she wasn't quite sure how it had managed to happen, but somewhere between the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts and standing on Platform 9 ¾ on September first, she had grown to accept James Potter as a human being, despite the fact that he was still friends with Sirius Black.
During the summer break, the Evans family had an unexpected visitor on their doorstep. Petunia had answered the door, dressed in her afternoon best, expecting it to be her current suitor, Vernon Dursley. Opening the door, she was mildly annoyed upon noticing that the man at the door was not Vernon. Glancing over him quickly she made note of his appearance: untidy black hair, glasses, some piece of wood, presumably a wand, sticking out of his pocket.
"Is Lily here?" he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Petunia's face turned sour at the mention of her sister's name.
"Just one second." Petunia turned and went inside the house, leaving the man standing on the front porch. After a few seconds, Lily's shadow appeared in the hallway, her figure frantically shoving her wand into her back pocket in the event the person at the door was a muggle. Pulling the door open further, Lily's look of curiosity changed from that of pleasant surprise to slight disgust.
"What are you doing here Potter?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"I came to share the good news with you. I couldn't owl you because I knew you wouldn't believe me" James smiled and pulled a piece of parchment out of his back pocket. Lily took it from him and read it.
"How in Merlin's name were you able to become Head Boy with even being a prefect?" she asked, reading the letter once more. She looked up at James, disbelief written all over her face. "You had to have put a charm on your school letter." James watched as Lily withdrew her wand and muttered a revealing charm, one she had used when she found the Marauder's Map sticking out of one of the book she lent Peter Pettigrew. Instead of the insult she was expecting to receive, nothing happened to the letter. The writing on the page still declared that James Potter was Head Boy.
"I asked myself that same question, Lils." James grinned and took his letter back, tapping Lily on the nose as he did so. "Yet it appears that old Dumbledore thinks I'd do quite a lovely job." An unpleasant look on Lily's face told James that she was refusing to believe him. The door shutting in his face a confirmation of this thought. James knocked on the door, stepping back slightly as to avoid the door and his nose making contact. The door opened once more and Lily looked at James through her green eyes.
"Was this the only reason you came over here? To gloat that you got Head Boy by doing absolutely nothing to earn it?" she asked venomously, glaring at the paper in James's pocket. That was when it hit James. She hadn't gotten her letter yet. Lily was upset because she hadn't been informed of whether or not she would continue to be a prefect or would be Head Girl and James, having been a student who just broke the rules got a position of ultimate power.
"Looks like someone didn't get their papers yet" James smirked that cocky smirk he was known for. "Lily Evans didn't find out if she was going to be in charge or have to follow my instructions." James was giddy, relishing in the fact that Lily was slowly turning an angry shade of red. Stepping outside of the doorway she shut the door behind her. James took a step back, just far enough to avoid the swing of an arm but close enough for his wand to be in a defensive state.
"You don't even know what you would do with that kind of power." She replied, brushing her hair off of her shoulders. "Knowing you, you would take points from Severus and Sirius and Remus the freedom of roaming the halls at all hours of the night with the intention of nicking food from the kitchens."
"Wow, Lils, I'm surprised that you would even think that I would do that." James told her, feigning an expression of hurt. "Thank you for the ideas though. I'll be sure to jot it down when I get home." Lily shot him a dirty look as a barn owl swooped onto the mailbox. She walked over to the owl and took the letter from its beak, summoning a cookie from inside of her house to give the bird. Slowly, Lily opened the thick envelope from Hogwarts and pulled out the first piece of parchment. School supplies. She tucked it under her arm and pulled out the second piece, a badge falling out of the envelope as she pulled it out. Reaching to pick it up, James took a look at the badge. HG was embossed onto it, causing James to look up and notice the look of elation written all over Lily's features.
"James" she smiled at him and held out the letter, her hands shaking from excitement. "I've gotten it!" she shrieked as a car pulled into the carport. "I'm Head Girl" she wrapped her arms around James in a hug. Slowly, James returned the embrace and pulled away as their wands made contact, a couple of gold sparks shooting out from their tips.
"Well congrats, Lily" James said, turning to face the person walking up the stones that led to the front door.
"Is Petunia home?" the person asked. Lily nodded and stepped away from the door to let him by.
"Petunia's mate?" James asked after the man disappeared.
"Vernon. He's a dreadful character. He doesn't think too fondly of me disappearing to a 'private' school while Petunia's at public school." James peeked around Lily and slid his wand into his hand.
"He looks to be a bit of a git. Would you be offended if I…" James trailed off as Lily put her hand on his.
"I wouldn't, but Petunia wouldn't think well of you if you did that to her boyfriend." Lily looked behind her and pulled James off the path as Petunia and Vernon left the house arm in arm.
"Is he your boyfriend, Lily?" Petunia asked, noticing that her sister's hand had yet to leave James's.
"W-what? No. Merlin no, I would never-." Lily stammered; her face turning a deep shade of pink as she quickly removed her hand from James's.
"Now Lily, you don't have to hide our true feelings. If it wasn't for me, you'd be stuck with a git like that bloke." James grinned and noticed the look on Vernon's face. "Come on Lils, let's go to Diagon Alley and get our supplies for class. I'll treat you to some ice cream from Florean Flortescue's." With that, James pulled Lily into her house and drew a bag a floo powder out of one of his pockets. Lily stammered a thank you and followed James's lead into Diagon Alley.
By the end of her trip to Diagon Alley with James, Lily had learned a bit more about the boy and slowly began to understand him a little bit more. By the end of the summer, Lily and James had spent quite a bit of time together alone and with the rest of the Marauders, the only disapproving looks coming from Lily were sent towards Sirius for picking on poor Peter. Yes, Lily had come to terms that despite his flaws, James Potter was a decent human and not too bad to sneak looks at either.
End
a/n: The ending is rushed, but it's also 1:30 in the morning. I am quite pleased with how this turned out otherwise
