Rainbows Come After Rain

Hi all! So I had been reading a lot of Lily & James stories and I really wanted to start one. Totally a different route from the other story I have but I wanted to try something different, especially with how much J.K. has left up to our interpretation of the two characters (and friends). This story is rated M because there will be some intense scenes. The story will take place starting at Hogwarts in their seventh year. Please let me know what you think, thank you so much for reading!

*Disclaimer-I don't own any of these characters! They all belong to J.K.R. :)*

Chapter 1-The Beginning

The day that James Potter first laid eyes on Lily Evans he was eleven years old. The first time he knew he loved her he was thirteen years old. The first time he asked her out and she rejected he was fifteen years old. The first time he asked her out and she accepted was when he was seventeen years old. And the first time James thought he would never see Lily again was when he was twenty years old.

The first time Lily saw James was when she was eleven years old. The first time Lily told him to stop bothering him was when she was twelve years old. The first time she was jealous of a girl he was with was when she was fourteen. The first time she rejected a date invitation from him she was fifteen. The first time he asked her out and she accepted was when they were seventeen. And the first time Lily accepted death she was twenty years old.

What happened between the beginning of their seventh year to the night that changed their lives was a combination of many things; heartbreak, beautiful, passionate, bitter, jealousy, happiness and most importantly life changing. Little did Lily and James know that they day Lily accepted his invitation on a date was the day their lives were put in jeopardy. Granted they would only realize it three years later, James and Lily's story was confusing and captivating to anyone who knew them. Before we can get to the day that Lily accepted death, we must first look at how James and Lily turned into something no one ever thought they would become; a couple.

As Lily arrived to Platform 9 and ¾ on September first she was overwhelmed with emotions. She was excited; excited to get back to the place she considered her home. Lily didn't have a terrible home life; her mother and father were extremely supportive of her abilities. Her sister Petunia, however, had not talked to her in six years. The day that Lily got on the Hogwarts Express for the first time was the last time that she and Petunia spoke. Over the summer while they were in the same house things always got uncomfortable and awkward. Lily was also nervous; she had received a letter over the summer from Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall congratulating her on her new role as Head Girl. Lily was overjoyed by the news; after six years all of her hard work was culminated into a new badge she had attached to her robes as she walked down the platform. Lastly Lily was nostalgic. She and her friends Marlene, Mary and Alice had so many memories together from Hogwarts and she couldn't believe this was the last time the four of them would sit on the train together. Pushing the sadness she felt aside she grinned and waved as she saw her three best friends congregated on the platform.

"Hi Lil! You look so tan!" Mary MacDonald squealed, hugging her tightly. Lily laughed and squeezed her back.

"We went on holiday to the beach and it was quite warm! Marlene, your hair looks gorgeous!" Lily quickly hugged her other two friends.

"I know, doesn't it?! I figured, last year I might as well go out with a bang!" Marlene McKinnon tucked a piece of her now brown hair behind her ear. Marlene was easily the most beautiful girl in the entire school. Together, Alice Lawrence, Mary, Marlene and Lily were considered the most popular girls in school. Girls envied them because of their looks, intelligence and closeness with the most popular boys in the school, the Marauders. Guys wanted to date them yet few hardly did.

Alice snickered. "A literal bang," she giggled, jumping away from Marlene's hand trying to hit her.

"Shut up, Al! Not all of us have a nice relationship like you have with Frank!" Mary said, pouting slightly.

"I just got lucky I found someone who could put up with me. Now Lily, do you know who your Head Boy is going to be?" The four girls pushed their way past giggling first years and into an empty compartment. Lily shook her head.

"I don't. I'm nervous to find out. I hope its Remus; he would be so easy to work with, especially since we were head prefects together last year. I really hope it's not Severus. After last year that could be...awkward." Lily plopped down onto one of the seats. "Whoever it is, I'll find out shortly. We're having a prefects meeting in five minutes."

"I hope it's the cute Hufflepuff that was smiling at you on the platform, Lil," Mary giggled. "He is so cute!"

"Brad? Oh we're just friends!" Lily said shrugging. Yes, Brad Matthews, Hufflepuff seeker, was very attractive. And smart. And funny. But that didn't mean Lily liked him. Well, that's a lie. She had a huge crush on him. "But it would be nice if he were Head Boy..." she trailed off dreamily.

"He's not as cute as Sirius or James-oh don't give me that look Lily. Just because James annoys you to no end doesn't mean he's not attractive," Marlene pointed out. Lily rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I'm not going to answer that. I'm off to my meeting. I'll see you all in a bit!" Lily waved to them before exiting.

"Um, guys? I know who the Head Boy is," Alice said, biting her lip. Mary and Marlene looked at her. "It's James."

As Lily walked into the large compartment she saw several faces around her laughing and gossiping about their summers. Lily smiled at the familiar faces, looking around. She noticed Severus Snape, her former best friend sitting in a corner, scowling at the rest of the compartment with a girl in Slytherin (Lily thought her name was Bellatrix but she couldn't be certain). She frowned when she saw his robes lacked a badge. Lily's eyes turned to the corner where she heard giggling and laughing and saw Remus sitting with a few girls not wearing a badge either. Lily walked over to him quickly.

"Hi Lil! How was your summer?" Remus asked and stood up to hug her. She hugged him back and frowned again.

"Not bad. You're not Head Boy?" She asked curiously. Remus shook her head.

"You don't know already? It's J-," Remus began to say but was interrupted by a loud voice entering the compartment. Lily turned around and felt her mouth drop when she saw James Potter standing before her, his arms around a giggling sixth year who Lily had never seen before. The sight of him with a girl didn't make her mouth drop. The badge on his robes did.

"YOU'RE Head Boy?!" Lily exclaimed rather loudly. Several students stopped their conversations to stare at her. James grinned.

"Hello to you too, Evans. And you bet I am. How excited are you?" He kissed the girl next to him on the cheek and she giggled and left the compartment.

"But how...how are YOU Head Boy? You weren't even a prefect?!"

James shrugged. "Beats me. I thought you'd be excited to work with me over some other candidates," he nodded his head in the direction of Severus. Lily frowned.

"Yes, excuse me while I jump for joy over sharing a position with someone who has constantly made fun of me and ridiculed me in front of half the school."

"Oh c'mon, Lily. That was in the past. We're big kids now." He grinned and sat next to Remus. "But I didn't do anything I was supposed to do so you're going to have to run this meeting." He propped his feet up on the empty bench across from him. Lily stared at him blankly, not having anything to say to him. She turned away from him and quickly walked to the front of the compartment.

"Good morning everyone. I'm your Head Girl, Lily Evans. Your Head Boy will be the completely responsible and mature James Potter, who has not prepared for this meeting at all." As Lily mentioned James' name, she heard giggles from girls. She stared directly at James he pushed his glasses up his nose, ran his fingers through his hair and winked at her. Lily's eyes narrowed. "This year should go smoothly. We will have weekly meetings where we will verify all detentions and point deductions that you all will be doing. Most of you were prefects last year, but for those of you who weren't, please remember that you cannot deduct points for nonsensical things such as what house someone is in. Are there any questions?" Lily looked around the room and her eyes fell on Brad. She blushed slightly when he smiled at her and quickly looked away. "Well then, everyone have a good first week and we'll see all of you next Wednesday." The students began filing out, laughter and talking filling the air. Lily saw that James was already gone and sighed. She wasn't quite sure how he had earned Head Boy and she was determined to find out how much his family paid Dumbledore so James could get away with all the pranks in the world he wanted to do. As Lily was about to leave the compartment herself she heard a voice behind her.

"Hi, Lily." Lily turned around to see Brad Matthews standing behind her and smiling. She blushed slightly and smiled back.

"Hi Brad! Walking to your compartment?" She mentally cursed herself for sounding so stupid. He nodded and the pair walked down the hall.

"How was your summer? Are you excited to be Head Girl?" He looked down at her. God his blue eyes were beautiful, she thought.

"It was great! I spent it at the beach with my family. I would be more excited to be Head Girl if you were my coworker," she smiled, tucking a piece of her red curls behind her ear. He laughed.

"Oh, trust me, so do I. If Potter gives you problems let me know. I'll make sure to give him a hard time during the Quidditch matches," he winked at her and stopping at his compartment. "Well, I'll see you around," he smiled and disappeared. Lily quickly ran back to her compartment.

"I cannot believe that James Potter is going to be Head Boy. If I survive this year it will be a miracle," Lily groaned, collapsing onto a seat.

"Gee, Evans, I'm excited to work with you too," a voice smirked and Lily quickly opened her eyes, seeing Sirius, Peter and Remus in front of her as well as her friends and James Potter next to her.

"Oh shut up, Potter. How did you even get the position? Pay off Dumbledore?" Lily sneered, looking at him. James shook his head.

"I have no idea how I got it but I'm going to enjoy making your days hell, though," he grinned and leaned in close to her to whisper in her ear. "Besides, we'll have our own living quarters. Make sure you lock your door." Lily shuddered at the thought of living just feet away from James. "Besides, I think you may end up liking this arrangement," he whispered again. Lily felt his hot breath on her ear and bit her lip.

"Your charm isn't going to work on me, Potter."

"We'll see about that," he winked and sat back up to join in the conversation with his friends. Lily groaned and closed her eyes again, secretly wishing she could restart the day and not have gotten on the Hogwarts Express. James Potter was going to be the death of her.