Prologue

"Get away from me!" she screamed, waving her now useless wand threateningly at the pallid face in front of her.

He laughed, a high, soft, cold, laugh, "Do you really believe that I would obey you, silly girl? I'm here to kill your son, not for anything else."

She let out a heaving sob and stepped in front of her son, "No! Take me. Not Harry! Kill me instead! Take me, not Harry! Please!"

He held up his wand, his white face livid, and his scarlet eyes slits of vehemence. Her face turned nearly as chalk white as his as she stared at the wand pointed directly at her heart. She circled her arms around Harry.

"Move aside, mudblood," snarled Voldemort, "I will spare you. Step aside!"

She shook her head, making her red curls go flying, "Never! I won't ever let you get him."

"As you wish mudblood." And with a flash of green, she fell to the floor right in front of Harry's eyes.

Lily Evans scanned the busy platform happily. It was her last year at Hogwarts, she was Head Girl, and it seemed nothing could go wrong. Before she knew it, she had all the wind knocked out of her as her best friends Dorcas Meadowes and Emmeline Vance hugged her rambunctiously.

"Lils, you look fantastic!" crowed Dorcas, looking her up and down.

Lily laughed, "You too, Meadowes." She turned to her quiet friend Emmeline, "How are you, Ems?"

Emmeline smiled, "Fabulous, as usual. I spent my whole summer with me Mam and me Dad in Scotland visiting me grandparents. It was great."

Dorcas rolled her eyes, "Who needs grandparents and Scotland? I spent my summer in Paris, the city of love!"

Lily waggled her eyebrows, "Hmm? And what did you experience in such an illuminating city?"

Dorcas shook out her curls and took Lily by the elbow, "I'll tell you two about it in the compartment. We should go if we want a decent seat." Emmeline nodded.

Lily shrugged apologetically, "Sorry, girls, but I've got to go to the Head's compartment to meet the new Head Boy, but I promise I'll come a little later."

Emmeline raised her eyebrows, "Promise?"

Lily smiled, "Yes! Now go on, you fools!"

The two of them laughed and ran off to get a compartment on the train. To tell the truth, Lily was nervous about the prospect of meeting the new Head Boy. What if it was Snape? Or someone equally horrendous? What if it was someone she couldn't get on well with? Lily dearly hoped Remus would be the new Head Boy.

Lily walked cautiously to the door of the Head's Compartment, thinking too much about putting one foot in front of the other. She slid open the door…

"You've kept me waiting, Evans."

Lily gaped. James Potter lounged on one of the plush blue seats, his hair in disarray, and looking completely at ease.

"What are you doing here, Potter?"

James frowned, "Now is that any way to treat your fellow Head, Evans? I should think not."

Lily shook her head, unwilling to believe it, "N-no. No. This-this is absurd. You weren't even a prefect!"

James gave her a lopsided grin, "You don't believe me, eh, Evans? Perhaps this ought to convince you." James shifted slightly so that the gleaming Head Boy badge on his chest was visible.

Lily clutched her heart and sank down onto the seat. How could this have happened? The one being on the entire earth that she hated more than anybody, her fellow Head?

James stood up, looking worried, "You okay, Lily? You look kind of…pale."

"Dumbledore's absolutely barking!" gasped Lily.

James burst out laughing, "You would think so, wouldn't you, Evans? I mean, me, Head Boy? But he has to have a good reason, so I would trust his judgment if I were you."

"I thought Remus was a cert!" whispered Lily.

James shrugged, "So did everyone else, but Remus isn't too adamant. He never really wanted to be Head, anyway."

Lily turned to look at him, her eyes in slits, "Potter, you have to promise to be civil."

James grinned, "I solemnly swear, Lilyflower."

Lily rolled her eyes, "We should lay some ground rules. First of all, never, ever, again call me Lilyflower. Second, no asking me out! Third, please just try to maintain a civilized disposition, Potter."

"Since when have I not been civilized?" asked James, sitting down and crossing his legs looking extremely pompous.

"So how do you think it's going with Prongs and Lily?" asked Sirius, smirking at the possibilities.

Remus grinned, "I'd reckon there will be some bloodshed in a few seconds."

"I don't get what he sees in her." said Peter glumly looking at the rain out the window.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "You better not let Prongs hear you saying that, Wormtail. He worships the ground she walks on."

Peter shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think James has a chance."

Remus shrugged, "Well, maybe, but the way I figure it, is, that the reason she hates him so much is because he's an arrogant prat, right? Well, now he's mature. He's changed, right? So she's bound to love him."

"That's what you think, Moony," muttered Sirius darkly yanking his robes on, "You just wait, mayhem will ensue when Prongs tries to prove himself to Lily."

"Mayhem? That bad, eh?" said a voice from the corridor. The three boys whipped their heads around to see James standing outside the compartment leaning casually against the glass.

"Hey, mate!" exclaimed Sirius, much too cheerily, "You didn't, by chance, perhaps, maybe have..."

"Heard that you three girls have been gossiping about my prospects with Lily?"

Sirius grinned guiltily, "Yeah, well,"

James grinned, "Forget about it, Padfoot."

Remus looked up, "So?"

James frowned, "So?"

Remus groaned, "So...did mayhem really ensue?"

James grinned, "Nope. We made a deal. I don't ask her out and she behaves civilly to me. She loves me. I know it."

"I think you're aiming a little high there, Prongs," smirked Sirius, "but on the upside, there was no ensuing mayhem."

"Speaking of mayhem..." started Peter.

"Yes?"

"Well, do you realize this is our last year to cause mayhem?"

"We should leave our mark on the school," said James, "but how?"

Sirius scratched his head than smacked the fold-up table so loud that all four boys jumped, "I have it!"

James smirked, "What do you have, Padfoot?"

"Well, the marauder way is to do the impossible, right?"

When the other three nodded, he continued, "Well, then we should do the impossible."

Remus ran an impatient hand through his hair, "Well get on with it, padfoot. What's the impossible?"

Sirius held up a hand, "Keep your shirt on, Moony. Well, the impossible thing we should do...we should make Lily fall for Prongs!"

There was silence.

"I like it." said Remus, "It will be immeasurably difficult, and though it's unlike any mischief we've ever caused in the past, it will be equally as rewarding."

Peter grinned, "Well done, Mr. Padfoot."

Sirius grinned and turned to look at James, "So, Prongsie? What do you think of it?"

James sniggered, "Good luck with that."

Remus cheered, "It's official. We have a mission. Make Lily fall for Prongs."

Lily stood outside Dorcas and Emmeline's compartment. They were in the middle of a conversation about a boy in Scotland who had taken a liking to Emmeline, but all Lily could think about was that James, James, the incarnation of pure conceitedness, was the person that she was going to have to spend limitless time with. She wasn't happy with the circumstances, oh no, but she would have to make it work.

"So he really wanted you to stay in Scotland with him?" Dorcas was saying.

Emmeline looked up as Lily slid open the door, "Hello, love. How was the Head's meeting?"

Lily sighed and plopped herself down next to Dorcas, "Not to peachy. You'll never guess who the Head Boy is."

Dorcas lit up, "Goody, a guessing game!"

Emmeline snickered, "Who, lily?"

Lily glared daggers at the window, "Potter."

Dorcas clapped a hand over her mouth and Emmeline burst out laughing, "You're kidding, right?"

Lily dropped her head in her hands, "Believe me, Meadowes, I wish I was."

Emmeline now clutching her stomach between gales of laughter gasped, "You are going to have so much fun this year, Lils."

Lily glared at her, "What am I to do, girls? Potter is going to be such a pain in the buttocks!"

Emmeline shrugged, "The only thing you can do. Fall in love with him!"

Lily's jaw dropped, "Never! I would never go out with Potter in a million years!"