"Potter, it would be most kind of you to remove yourself from my compartment before I lose my temper completely." Lily Evans pursed her lips and glared at James, impatiently tapping her foot.
"Aw, come on Evans, I thought that after a whole month without me, you'd at least let me say hello!"
"In that case, you thought wrong. Now get out of my compartment before I give you a detention!" she snapped, rising slowly and menacingly from her seat.
"You can't do that! I'm head boy!" exclaimed James, dramatically placing his hands on his heart.
"You're… you're what?" asked Lily, looking aghast. How could Potter, James Potter be Head Boy? He was arrogant, he had no common sense and he had the responsibility of a four-year-old! Lily shook her head; it was probably another ridiculous strategy to get her to go out with him – again.
"I'm Head Boy, Evans. And from what I've heard," he said, gesturing to the three other girls in the compartment, all of whom were watching the squabble with amusement and all of whom were Lily's best friends, "You're Head Girl!"
With this, Lily turned to glare at every one of her friends. "Well, Potter," she said at last, facing him. "Don't think this changes anything. Don't think that I'm going to like you any more than I did last year. Because if you do, you'll be wrong."
During her last sentence, the door of the compartment slid open. "Prongs, there you are, what are you –" Sirius stopped in midsentence, staring from Lily to James in awe. "You were talking to Evans! But how come we couldn't hear any yelling? And how come neither of you are crying?" James broke eye contact with Lily and his cheeks reddened.
"Come on, Padfoot, let's go," he muttered, shouldering Sirius as he turned to leave the compartment.
"But Prongs, I only just got here! This conversation just started to get exciting!"
"Padfoot…" James warned.
"Fine!" he muttered sulkily and he too turned to leave. "Oh, Evans, that reminds me!" He said, his face brightening as he turned to face Lily. "Remus said that there's a Prefect and Head Boy and Girl meeting in the end carriage in half an hour." Sirius beamed, looking extremely pleased with himself for remembering to say so.
Lily merely nodded and sat back down with a sigh as Sirius turned to leave. With a squeak and a click from the compartment door, everything came quietly. Lily looked up to find everyone in the compartment sating at her, open mouthed. Lily's best friend was the first to break the deafening silence.
"Lily!" shrieked Marlene McKinnon with a look of outrage on her face. Lily's close friend since first year and best friend since the end of their 5th year, Marlene was quite a pretty girl with big baby blue eyes and short blonde hair in tight curls framing her round, freckly face.
"What?" asked Lily wearily: she knew what was coming.
"You know exactly what. Explain to me what just happened and why you did it," demanded Marlene, folding her arms.
Lily sighed. "Let's see, James Potter comes BURSTING into our compartment for 'no reason', refuses to leave when I tell him to and tells me he's Head Boy. Then I told him it wouldn't change anything because HE'S AN ARROGANT BOY WHO ACTS LIKE HE'S TEN AND THINKS HE CAN GO OUT WITH ME SO HE CAN PROVE HE CAN GO OUT WITH ALL OF THE GIRLS IN SCHOOL!" Lily was breathing heavily and her body shook with anger – she was surprised at how Potter had made her feel.
"Lils, when are you going to realise that this isn't true!" sighed Emmeline Vance, putting her newspaper down. Like Marlene, she too was small, but more slim and slender, with long brown curls reaching halfway down her back. Her chocolate brown eyes appeared to be sad and slightly hurt.
"When someone proves to me that Potter is a genuine person!" Lily huffed.
"Let's see," said Tilly Jones, speaking for the first time. "He's asked you out at least once a week since our first year, he's never been out with any other girl, despite many requests," she raised her eyebrows at a blushing Marlene, who had been obsessed with James in their fourth year. "When he talks to you, his eyes light up, they seem so… so happy. And, in case you didn't notice, Sirius pointed out that neither of you were crying. James blushed and clearly felt uncomfortable – Lils, it seems that you're not the only one that cries after your arguments."
Lily fell quiet, her eyes looked pained.
"Lily?" asked Marlene quietly, reaching for her friend's arm. "Lily, please make an effort. You don't have to go out with him, you don't even have to be friends. But even if you can't see how he's affected by you, we can."
Arriving at the door of the end carriage, James took a deep breath. He was shaking. Not because he would be making a speech to dozens of people who looked up to him in a mere few minutes, but because he was going to have to face Lily Evans. Nearly every time they spoke it ended in an argument, and it crippled James like a blow to the stomach. He couldn't stand seeing her hate him – he couldn't look at her for more than two seconds without his heart exploding – exploding with his undying love for her and exploding for knowing that she hated his guts. Exploding because he knew it would always be that way.
He entered the carriage and fell subject to many pairs of staring eyes, watching him progressing to the front of the carriage. His stomach turned as he saw Lily already waiting at the front. Her flaming red hair fell perfectly below her shoulders and her almond-shaped green eyes shone, meeting James' as he stood next to her. James turned to face the prefects, catching a supporting smile from Remus.
"Good afternoon, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts," Lily began.
"We are the new Head Boy and Head Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans," continued James.
"Now, although many of you were prefects last year, please continue to listen to instructions and rules," said Lily. James smiled weakly as she instructed the prefects, nodding every now and then until Lily came to the end of her speech. "Anything you'd like to add?" She asked, addressing James, who shook his head. "You may go."
One by one, the prefects began to leave to attend their various duties until it was just James and Remus left in the carriage.
"James?" asked Remus tentatively, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. Remus could see James' eyes glistening with tears and untold thoughts and emotions. "It's Lily again, isn't it?" he didn't even need to ask. Remus was used to James being upset over her, even if it was fairly rare. But only in their dormitory, never somewhere this … open. Yet he still couldn't bring himself to see James cry. Remus had always been the most emotional, especially after the childhood he'd had to endure and the teasing he received from his friends, but he had to stay strong for James and pulled him into a tight hug. "Come on, let's get back to the compartment." James gave a shaky nod and allowed himself to be led back to their compartment.