Lily kissed her mum goodbye quickly before stumbling off toward the Hogwarts Express, struggling to balance her many belongings while trying not to break her concentration on the spell that was holding up her large trunk behind her. This summer had been quite miserable with Petunia's new bloody boyfriend always traipsing around the house and the increasing animosity between the two of them. If that wasn't enough, her father had taken up a new job that involved traveling to Australia for absurd amounts of time; she'd hardly seen him for a week all summer. To top it all off, it seemed that Severus had finally given up all attempts of making amends with her.

She wasn't so sure of why that last thing bothered her so much. She had made the decision their fifth year when he'd gone too far. He was becoming somebody that she loathed. He wasn't her friend Sev anymore, the one who used to play with her when she was little, the one who cried about his parents. He was a dirty, hateful prat who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. However, he still would come to her house every so often, asked her parents if she was around, even owled her birthday gifts – at least up until a few months ago. This past summer, she hadn't heard a single word from him. She'd even casually walked past Spinner's End on a few occasions to see if he even still lived there, but she couldn't tell.

Not that I even give a rat's arse about the toe-rag, she reminded herself sternly, willing it to be true as she walked through the train, searching for her best friend, Mary Macdonald. She wanted to see where her friend was sitting before she had to go off to the Prefect meeting. Lily's stomach gave a nervous flutter as she remembered her new position: Head Girl. She'd wanted this her entire Hogwarts tenure, but now that it was imminent she was nervous about what to do, and about how the dynamic would be among all of the house's prefects.

What if they don't want to listen to me? What if the Head Boy doesn't like me? I wonder who he is - hopefully Remus. Several unpleasant scenarios flashed through her mind as she tried to calm her nerves and focus on finding the correct cabin. Finally, she spotted Mary's curly dark mass of hair, quickly followed by her freckled, blue-eyed face.

xxx

James was already celebrating raucously when Remus spotted him, Sirius and Peter holed up in their seats upon the Hogwarts Express. He smiled widely at the sight of his friends, plucky as ever despite the world around them. Remus had been so excited to get back to Hogwarts and see his friends regularly again. The summer had gone along fine enough, but his transformations had been lonely and particularly rough and though they visited one another often, he hadn't seen any of his best mates in a few weeks as he and his family had gone off on holiday to France.

"What are you three going on about?" He asked, plopping his bags down on the ground and grinning widely at his friends, who looked rather ridiculous flouncing around giddily.

"Moony!" He wasn't sure who yelled out first but in a moment he was attacked quite barbariously by a certain ecstatic, messy-haired wizard. James hugged his friend so tightly for a moment he could have sworn the boy broke his rib, but quickly let go.

"I got Head Boy!" James managed, still grinning goofily. "Can you believe it, Moony? Me? James bloody Potter." He shook his head disbelievingly at this miracle.

"Are you yanking my wand?" Remus managed a smile for his friend to show he was joking, as he noticed a shockingly shining Head Boy badge gleaming on James' chest. Remus was happy for him. Really. But he still couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. Most people would feel something closer to jealousy in the same situation; he knew he deserved to be Head Boy more than anyone, especially more than his delinquent friend. But I can't, he told himself, furious at himself for feeling jealousy toward one of his best mates, if only for a moment.

"I'm happy for you, Prongs." He meant it, and gave the other boy a genuine smile and a small, friendly punch on the shoulder, "That's incredible!"

xxx

Lily took a deep breath, willing her hands to stop wringing through her robes anxiously. I can do this, she repeated for the umpteenth time. She'd been thinking that very sentence over and over again as a mantra since she left her friends. She took one final deep breath, raised her chin a fraction, and pushed open the door.

There were several unfamiliar faces, as well as a few she recognized from the back or side of their heads. None of them were facing her, though. There was someone who seemed to be monopolizing all of the attention. He was a bit taller than most of the others, and had messy dark hair...

"Potter?" Lily gasped in a cold fury. Her eyebrows snapped together, "What are you doing-" the question died on her lips as she noticed the gleaming badge on his chest. This was impossible. She felt angry tears springing to her eyes and took a deep calming breath.

"Evans!" Potter looked disgustingly cheerful as he walked over to her, grin spreading across his face. "Fancy seeing you here. Head Girl, eh? Can you believe they made me Head Boy? Out of everyone they could have chosen..."

"No." Lily managed shakily. She blinked. "I can't."

James' face fell minutely. "Evans," He said in an undertone, coming uncomfortably close to her. "Just work with me, just for the meeting... please." Lily took a step backwards, astounded by the pleading note in his voice. It was a bizarre thing coming from Potter. Potter, who had spent the past six years teasing and taunting the students and vexing the staff of the very school in which he now somehow held authority.

"Fine," she managed, not sure what he was playing at. The genuinely pleading tone disarmed her, even disturbed her. She was used to hot-headed, inconsiderate James. This behavior, though, was something she was unsure of how to handle with him. She took a deep breath, and tried to force her facial expression into something neutral. She could do this. She was the mature one of the pair, right?

xxx

Lily collapsed onto her four-poster bed, having just finished putting away all of her belongings. She let out a sigh, staring at the ceiling.

"I mean, I love Professor Dumbledore, but how could he possibly put me and Potter as Head Girl and Boy? Is this some sort of joke?"

Mary shook her head and shrugged. She'd been listening to this kind of ranting since Lily had returned from her meeting. She could probably write a novel on Potter's every movement and word, from everything Lily had said.

"I dunno, Lils. Maybe Potter's grown up a bit. I mean, he's of age, some boys just take a little longer to mature," she said mildly, throwing a pair of socks into her drawer. "Besides, you should give him a chance, he's not that horrible-"

Lily interrupted her friend with a scoff, "Mary! Whose side are you on, anyway?" She picked up her pillow and threw it in the general direction of her friend, not bothering to look at her target.

"You missed." Mary giggled, throwing the pillow back at Lily so that it landed right on her head.

"Hey!" Lily couldn't help but laugh herself, and soon they were in an all-out pillow fight

xxx

"What's wrong, mate? You're acting all mopey." Sirius flung himself onto James' bed, sending him flying a few centimeters in the air.

"Lily hates me," James moaned, falling onto his back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. He pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to ward off an impending headache.

"You're just realizing this now?" Sirius teased, standing up again. James said nothing, and Sirius sighed dramatically. "C'mon, Prongs; forget about her." He quickly changed his train of thought at the infuriated look James shot at him, "Let's think of a fantastic prank to start the year... like really all out. That is, if you're still up for it, being the all-important Head Boy and all."

James sat up again and looked ready to retort, but he let out a sigh and gave his friend a halfhearted, lop-sided grin; it was a start. "Abso-bloody-lutely."