This year was going to be amazing. James Potter could feel it humming through his veins; he could feel it in every breath he took. Hell, the excitement of the crowded train station buzzed around him, people laughing, hugging, and reuniting with their school friends. The potential of the year danced around, lighting up everyone's eyes. The new Head Boy badge was pinned to the front of his robes, gleaming brightly. He knew his mates would take the mickey out of him about how clean he kept it, but he couldn't help it – he was thrilled to start his seventh year. This year was going to be different; this was going to be the year it all changed.
He'd spent all of summer holidays with his uncle Harry in Italy. Things were different now. James was different now. The things he'd experienced the things he'd saw – all of it had molded him, leaving much more than tanner skin in its wake. This was a new James Potter. This was a new start.
His hazel eyes swept the station, looking for the one person he was most excited to see. He looked past Marlene McKinnon; her bushy dark hair had only grown wilder over break. He looked past Emmeline Vance and Lily Evans, huddled close together gossiping about their summers. Finally his eyes honed in on the familiar black shaggy hair of his best mate, Sirius Black. Sirius had spent his holidays with Remus, writing frequently. James had missed him though, being away from him for so long felt wrong. Life without Sirius was like life with a seriously important limb missing, like an arm or a leg. Sirius was his best friend, his brother.
"Oi, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed when his grey eyes caught sight of his best friend. He ran the rest of the way, pulling him into a rough hug. "Look at you, all tan and the like."
"Beaches do that to you." James laughed.
Remus finally caught up and dragged James into an embrace too. "I take it you had a nice holiday."
James took in the sight of his two best mates, noticing how pale Remus looked and how exuberant Sirius was. "He wore you out didn't he?" He asked Moony. "This old dog is high maintenance."
"He needs constant attention." Moony agreed, humor shining in his eyes. "I had to walk him and take him outside to play at least twice a day."
Sirius ignored them both, draping an arm over each of their shoulders and leading them towards the train. "Peter's saving us a seat." He told James. "Oh that's right; you have to go to the prefect's car with Remus. Seeing as you're head boy and all. Thank Merlin you polished it up nicely however would I have known if it wasn't shining so blindingly bright o your chest. "
"Two minutes." James laughed. "It took you all of two minutes to bring it up."
Sirius gave his best friend's shoulders a squeeze. "Obviously it's because I'm jealous. I always secretly wanted to be head boy."
"Right, was this before or after you became a ballerina?" Remus asked, de-tangling himself from Padfoot's arm.
"Don't be daft, it wasn't a ballerina. I wanted to become an interpretive dancer. And it was before." Sirius called over his shoulder as he boarded the train. "So Prongs, are you going to go all good kid on us now that you've got the power?"
James gave his most sarcastic face, "Yes, I've finally got all the power of the prefects and I'm going to go mad with it. Fifty points from Slytherin! Seventy points from Ravenclaw! Watch out Marauders, I'm turning in all your secrets."
"Alright, alright, I get it. You're the same old Prongs."
But he wasn't. The James Potter who had left had been pathetic and sad. He'd been mooning after a girl who explicitly only wanted to be friends, the former Head Girl made it extremely clear she didn't want to continue their little tryst. Instead of spending his whole summer mooning over his loss, he'd gone out there and hit the Italian beaches like there was no tomorrow. His uncle knew just how to throw a party, every night at that beach house had been the best of his life. He'd met Melissa Gale there. Her dark hair had spilled over her shoulder and tickled his chest as she's leaned down to kiss him the first time. Her bright blue eyes had been the same color as the ocean they'd spent too many nights skinny dipping in.
Yes, James Potter was different because for the first time he was aware of he was in love.
He wasn't quite ready to share that with the others though. Telling them made the whole thing wrong. It brought the two worlds he'd crafted over the summer together and he wasn't ready to share them yet. He wanted to keep Melissa to himself just a while longer.
James just nodded at his friend before turning to Remus, "Should we get going?"
"Probably. The little fifth years tend to get there rather early. They're just so excited to be prefects. Little do they know it's just a shit ton of unwanted responsibility."
Sirius's hand tugged at the sleeve of his robe when he turned to leave, James turned back curiously. "You know Evans is Head Girl right."
James shrugged out of his friend's grip. "Who else would be Head Girl? It's obviously Evans."
"That doesn't bother you?" His best mate asked, eyeing him curiously.
"Why would it?"
The question hung between them like a challenge. That was a chapter of his life that was closed and locked permanently. He didn't care one bit about Lily Evans anymore. That had died at the end of fifth year with a disastrous kiss. There was nothing there but past embarrassments.
"Just wondering."
"Well, it's fine." More than fine. Why would working with Lily bother him when he had Melissa? Of course, Sirius didn't know about her yet. Waving a stiff goodbye, James followed Moony to the car where the prefects were meeting. Most of them were already piled into the thing, cramped between one another. James didn't recognize any of the fresh meat. He did recognize the red head standing in the corner, though. Her hair had somehow turned brighter over the summer; a fresh speckling of freckles decorated her sun kissed face as she beamed over at the late arrival.
"I see you got some sun too." She said, gesturing to James's tan.
"Worked all summer on it." Talking to her was easy. He used to stress so much over whether or not he's say the wrong thing but as soon as he let go everything flowed naturally.
"So, Head boy. How does that feel, Potter?"
"A lot like not being Head Boy." He answered, that easy marauders smirk teasing at his lips.
"Charming."
Remus cleared his throat behind James, making him jump. "Maybe we can begin the debriefing?"
"Unless we're interrupting." A Ravenclaw prefect added, her eagle eyes bouncing between the two Heads.
"Keep looking back and forth like that and your eyes will get stuck in two different directions." James informed her, crossing his arms over his chest. Everyone knew how he'd chased Lily. It had annoyingly become his only character trait in most people's eyes.
The girl stuck her tongue out at him, but quit looking suspicious.
"You can't be mean, Prongs." Remus whispered from behind him. James shrugged; he could be whatever he wanted to be.
As Lily began to drone on about boring rules and regulations, James's mind wandered off to Beauxbatons where Melissa was on her way to. They'd agreed to try the whole long distance thing. He wondered if any of the boys in her year were complimenting her tan or asking about her summer. He wondered if she would laugh, flip her hair over her shoulder, and tell them all about her Hogwarts boyfriend. Was she thinking of him? Did she already miss the feeling of his lips on her skin? He itched to owl her immediately but held back. He had to give her time to settle in. He hadn't even arrived at school yet, for Merlin's sake.
He glanced over at the Head Girl watching as she explained prefect patrols to the new comers, her eyes were a million miles away too. He couldn't help wondering what she was thinking of, how she'd spent her summer, and where. Was she sprawled on a beach similar to the one he'd lived on? She seemed different than she had the last time he'd seen her. He shoulders more square, more sure of herself.
As if sensing his eyes on her she stopped midsentence to look over. "What, have I got something on my face?"
"Just a few freckles. Nothing a complexion potion can't get rid of."
"What crawled in your heart and died?" She shot back, but he could see a spark of humor in her eyes.
"A ferret actually, quite tragic. I've named it Teddy." He didn't even miss a beat. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he leaned against the door of the car. "Go on, I'll be nice and quiet."
"You've never been nice and quiet a day in your life, Potter." She smiled. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, just this once."
He wanted to tell her she wouldn't be disappointed, but he held the comment back letting her complete her meeting in peace. He returned to thoughts of his raven haired girlfriend, sure that Evans could fill him in on Head duties later. It was less than ten minutes later when Remus elbowed him in the side, saying "C'mon, Prongs, you're drooling there. At least pretend to care about your new position."
"I care." He protested. He wasn't even lying, he cared a lot. He'd been thrilled when that badge had fallen out of his letter. It was a nice chance to show his parents that he wasn't such a fuck up. If Dumbledore trusted him then that meant something, and he would take that seriously.
The prefects filed out until it was just the three Gryffindors standing alone. "How was your summer, Lily?" Moony asked, shifting the strap of his bag to the other shoulder.
"It was alright." She grinned, her expression clearly saying it was far better than alright. "I went to Italy with my mum."
"That's funny, because I was in Italy with my uncle." James said. So he and Lily had vacationed at the same spot. Odd. Once upon a time the idea that they'd unintentionally vacationed at the same place would've had him questioning if they were meant to be. But now he found it more of a funny coincidence than a sign from the fates.
"Small world" Was her only comment, before she returned to gathering her papers. "I expect we'll meet up later to discuss what you missed while zoning out?"
"Noticed that did you?" She was always so perceptive.
"It's only the same expression you've been wearing in Herbology since the very first lesson. It's not hard to spot." She brushed past him, out into the corridor. "We'll met up sometimes before classes start?"
"Sounds like a plan." He called to her retreating back. Her ginger locks swayed around the middle of her back as she walked away. He could tell by the shaking of her shoulders she was suppressing a giggle.
"I remember when you couldn't even say your own name around that girl." Remus said, looking between James and the disappearing Head Girl. "And she'd run around calling you an arrogant toerag-"
"She only called me that once." James interrupted, taking his friend by the shoulders and leading him the opposite direction of Lily. "Let's go find Peter and Sirius."