You must know, first and foremost, that this is not a fairy tale. It is a love story but it does not have a happy ending. It has a rocky beginning and a very happy middle but it does not end well. But I will not be telling that part of the story, as it has been told many times and I don't think my heart would be able to take it. However, I will be telling you the tale of how two people, despite the circumstances, managed to make each other very happy, and give each other forever within numbered days.


10:24am, the Evans household

"LILY! Hurry up or you're going to miss the train!"

"I'm coming, Mum!" sixteen-year-old Lily Evans called back as she dragged her trunk down the stairs, wincing as it hit the back of her legs on each step. "Okay," she panted, "I'm ready."

"Great," her mother smiled, "Can you ask your father to put your trunk in the car? And make sure you grab Snaps, and then we'll be ready to go!"

Lily nodded before dashing up the stairs again to retrieve her tawny owl, Snaps, which she had gotten before her first year at Hogwarts.

Fifteen minutes later the Evans clan, which included Lily; the youngest, Petunia; Lily's older sister, and their parents, Rob and Christine Evans, arrived Kings Cross station.

"Now, have an amazing last year!" Lily's father was saying to her as she was saying her goodbyes. "Make sure it's one to remember!"

"Thanks dad," Lily grinned, "I'm sure you'll hear all about it in the holidays!"

He winked at her before Lily's attention was turned to her mother.

"I'm sure you will be very responsible, but make sure to have fun every once in a while! I know you'll be the best Head Girl Hogwarts has ever seen!" Christine told her.

"Thanks mum," Lily laughed, "I'll miss you both! And you too, Petunia!" The last part directed at her sister who was feeling extremely out of place surrounded by witches and wizards saying their goodbyes to loved ones.

"Whatever," she muttered, tapping her brand new engagement ring against her elbow, "Bye."

Lily rolled her eyes, used to her sister's continuous resentment towards her. She cast a glance at her parents who were giving each other worried glances; they hated to see their daughters fighting.

"Well, I better get on the train," Lily mumbled.

"Yes, yes you should," her mother said as she began fretting over her youngest daughter. Flatting down her hair and looking her over.

"Mum I'm fine," Lily smiled.

"I know, I'm just going to miss you!"

Lily softened a little, before reassuring her mother that she will be alright.

"I'll be back before you know it. Don't worry about me; I'm going to be fine."

Christine smiled softly before wrapping her daughter in a tight hug.

"Mum – air!"

"Oops – sorry sweetie!" Christine chuckled.

Lily then turned to her father who gave her an even more bone-crushing hug.

He pulled back to look at her and smiled.

"Have a great time, love."

"I will, Dad, thanks."

With a last hug to both her parents and a wave in Petunia's direction, which was not returned, Lily made her way onto the train after lugging her trunk onto it. As she made her way to the usual compartment her friends and herself usually occupied she met an unexpected visitor.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily inwardly groaned. James Potter. Her arch enemy. The bane of her existence. Whatever you wanted to call it.

"What do you want, Potter?"

"Can't I say 'hi' to you without you getting mad?" Potter questioned, his cocky attitude dampened slightly.

"Uh, I guess you can," Lily replied, slightly confused as to how James Potter, who was always cocky, arrogant and stuck up, could be even the slightest bit sad that she had rejected him.

"I see you've been made Head Girl," James smiled, nodding towards the shiny badge which was pinned onto Lily's black and white striped sweater, "I knew you would get it, Dumbledore'd be mad to give it to anybody else."

"Um, thanks," Lily mumbled, turning bright red at the compliment.

"I'll see you around, Evans."

"Yeah... Bye Potter."

As James walked off Lily unpinned the Head Girl badge from her sweater; she didn't love attention and she knew everyone would make a big deal of it. As she stowed the badge safely in her bag she pondered how the boy who was so rude and arrogant last year, managed to finally shrink his ego inflated head, even slightly.

Vowing to dwell on the matter later, Lily set out to find her friends. As she reached the compartment she grinned as she opened the door.

"LILY!" Several voices screamed upon her entrance.

Lily's best friends all piled onto her, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug, not dissimilar to the one that her mother gave her before boarding the train.

As they pulled back Lily looked around at them and smiled.

Alice Prewett, Lily's first and very best friend at Hogwarts, had cut her thick blonde hair into a pixie cut over the summer which suited her greatly. Her crystal blue eyes twinkled as she took in Lily. Alice and Lily were like sisters; they shared clothes, gave each other advice and knew all each other's secrets.

Another one of Lily's friends, Marlene McKinnon, had dark brown eyes which stood out from her long blonde hair. She was the most out-there of the group and a Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Mary McDonald, a tiny brunette who was wearing quite a bit of makeup was extremely well-spoken. She never held back what she wanted to say even if it was rude, which often offended others, but her friends knew that was just her personality and took it in stride. Mary had friends all over Hogwarts and the Gryffindor girls could always rely on her to report any gossip back to them.

The shyest of the Gryffindor girls would have to be Emmeline Vance. Emmeline, known mostly as Em or Emma, was very shy until you got to know her; she was quite a hidden gem. Emma had modest beauty with her long shimmering blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Although she enjoyed her fair share of fun, she would often be found in the library studying or reading.

"How was your summer?" Alice exclaimed.

"Give me a minute to sit down, will you?" Lily muttered, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

The girls laughed and all sat down together.

"Well! How were your holidays?" Mary insisted.

"Not very exciting actually. Petunia got engaged to the whale," Lily sighed.

The four girls groaned in disgust.

"Eurgh, really?" Marlene snorted. "Doesn't she have eyes or..."

Her comment sent the girls into a round of laughter, effectively forgetting about the engagement of Lily's older sister.

After talking for a while and catching up, Lily suddenly remembered her Head Girl duties.

Fumbling around in her bag, she found her badge and pinned it onto the front of her robes.

Alice gasped.

"Head Girl?! Oh my God I knew you would get it! I'm so happy – congratulations!" she squealed as she gave her best friend a hug.

The other girls, hearing Alice's cries, turned to Lily and also engulfed her in a hug, yelling their congratulations.

"Déjà vu," Lily mumbled.

The girls laughed and let her go.

"Well, I have to get to the Heads compartment to speak to the Prefects… wait, do any of you guys know who the Head Boy is? I'm kind of hoping it's Remus, he really deserves it and he's such a great friend," Lily remarked.

"No idea," Mary said, as she pushed her out the door, "see you later!"

A confused Lily glanced back at Alice once more before she was shoved out the door.

"What was that about?" Marlene asked.

"You do know who the Head Boy is, right?" Mary told her seriously.

"No…"

"It's James."

"James Potter?!" Emma shrieked.

"How many other James' do we know?" Mary sighed, "Yes, James Potter. And this is the perfect opportunity to get them together! God knows they would make such a great couple! Lily's just too stubborn to see it."

"I agree," Alice said, to the girls' surprise, as Alice was normally on Lily's side when it came to the subject of James Potter, "James has loved Lily forever but she is just too fixed to realize that him asking her out all the time isn't just a joke."

Marlene and Emma nodded understandingly.

"Now we just need to figure out how to get them together."


"Sorry guys, I have to go now."

"Aww Head Boy duties Prongs?" Sirius joked.

"Pretty much," James said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Sirius shook his head.

"I still can't believe you could betray us like this."

"I didn't betray you! C'mon, Dumbledore chose me, you know I would have much preferred Moony to get the badge," James argued.

"I'm glad I didn't," Remus countered, "James I know you'll be great at this."

"I'm not too sure I will be, how did I go from one of the biggest troublemakers at Hogwarts to Head Boy? I'm still not sure Dumbledore isn't entirely insane."

"James," Remus said seriously, "you deserve this. You're going to make a fantastic Head Boy, and you'll have Lily to help you, all right?"

"I guess that an upside," James smiled, thinking of working with Lily all year.

"Prongs, you have no excuse not to be going out with Evans by the end of the year – you'll have to talk to her every day! And she'll have no excuse not to!"

Ignoring Sirius, James turned to the fourth companion.

"What do you think, Wormtail?"

Peter looked up from the Chocolate Frog which he had half devoured.

"I think you'll be a fantastic Head Boy, Prongs!"

James smiled lightly, "Thanks Pete."

"We better go," Remus told him, "You don't want to be late to your first Prefect meeting."

"I guess not, we'll see you later guys!" James said, directing the last part towards Sirius and Peter who were currently poring over a Chocolate Frog card.

Remus rolled his eyes as James chuckled.

"I swear they have ADHD," Remus muttered, "One moment they're with you, the next, they're gone."

With this the two boys left the compartment and made their way to the front of the train where the Prefect meetings were held.

Remus, sensing James was nervous, put a hand out to stop him, and motioned for him to go into a nearby empty compartment.

A confused James did so and turned to looked confusedly at his friend.

"James, I know you're upset about what happened over the holidays, I can in no way relate to what you went through, but I want you to know that I'm here for you if you want to talk okay?" Remus reminded him.

James smiled sadly, "Thanks Moony. I just miss her, and I wish she got to see me be Head Boy. She would have been so shocked."

Remus laughed softly, "She would have been. But it's always hard to lose a family member, especially someone who is so close to you. I never got to meet my grandmothers but I know that you had a special bond with yours that can never be replaced. And what happened over the summer changed you, and made you a better person. I'm sure your grandmother would have been extremely proud if she could see you now."

"I used to be a bit of a prick didn't I," James admitted.

"Uh… sometimes," Remus acknowledged, bemused at his friend's sudden change in conversation.

James laughed. "I know I was Moony, don't pretend I wasn't. I was an arrogant toe-rag." James smiled as he used the name Lily had called him during one of their more memorable fights which had taken place after they took their OWLs. "Especially to Lily, she really hates me, and I don't blame her. I really need to apologize."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to do that this year! But right now we really need to get the meeting."

And with that, the two Marauders quickly found the compartment which the Prefect meeting is held in and opened the door, surprised to see the Head Girl, none other than Lily Evans, sitting on her lonesome.

Hearing the door open, Lily looked up from the book she was currently reading to take in the new occupants of the compartment. Upon seeing Remus, she greeted him kindly, as they had become quite good friends over the years as they were Gryffindor Prefects together. When she turned to James, however, she was not as friendly.

"Potter, this is the compartment for the Heads and the Prefects," she explained, glaring at him.

"I know," James replied, smirking.

"Well, then you need to leave," Lily told him, wanting to wipe that smirk off his face while not instigating a fight at the same time.

"I'm quite aware of the rules," James said cheekily.

Remus, not wanting World War lll to start before his eyes, intervened before either of them, most likely Lily, burst and did something they would regret.

"James is Head Boy," he interjected.

"Excuse me, what?!" Lily near-shouted.

"I'mHeadBoy," James said quickly, wanting to get it over and done with as being on the receiving end of Lily's temper was not on his to-do list today.

The Head Girl was speechless and sat there with her mouth parted slightly, taking in this new information. From the outside she looked blank but inside her head her brain was whirring.

How am I supposed to deal with Potter all year and be expected to share the Head's dorm with him, she thought, What was Dumbledore's problem? How had James Potter - Marauder, prankster and record holder of the most detentions ever issued at Hogwarts ended up as Head Boy? Maybe he had changed…

Rubbish, a voice in the back of her head contradicted her, he was still the same arrogant, big-headed toerag that messes up his hair to look cool. There was no way he could have changed.

Well, he could have changed. When I bumped into him before he seemed.. nice. Maybe I should give him a chance, he probably has changed, now that I think of it, he seemed more reserved and mature.

Says the girl who's talking to herself, the voice said.

Shaking her head slightly to pull herself out of her reverie Lily realized James and Remus had been staring at her throughout the internal struggle in her head. But she was saved from saying anything more on the matter as the Prefects for the year filed into the compartment.

After everyone was settled, Lily and James introduced themselves as the Head Boy and Girl for the year and went over the usual rules and regulations, giving the Prefects the standard "don't abuse your powers," "be responsible," talk. While James was talking Lily saw how all the Prefects, especially the fifth years, were looking at him with a kind of awe as if they looked up to him.

"…Now I know that most of you are probably thinking, 'he can't talk, he wasn't even a prefect and he's one of the most troublesome kid at Hogwarts,' and that is, er, true, but I was, and still am, Quidditch captain and that has given me a sense of leadership," James was saying, "Being a leader is extremely important. Being a leader means that everyone will look up to you, and will follow what you do. Being a leader means you need to set the right example. Now I've done some pretty stupid things over the years," he paused here as the Prefects shared glances and smiles at each other as they remembered some of the pranks James and his fellow Marauders had done, "and I'm not going to try to neither deny nor justify my actions. But there is a time for fun and then there is a time to be serious. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this, but these are dark times. Dark forces are rising and soon, you will need to show where your loyalties lie," as he said this he glanced surreptitiously at the Slytherin Prefects. "It's times like these that people will look to their leaders, which is you guys, and I hope that you show them the right way."

As he concluded his speech Lily stared at him, confused as to what had come over him. Never had she thought Potter would be able to say something like that and execute it as well as he did. She also noticed how passionate he was about the subject, like it was personal and he had a reason to fight for it.

"And on that note, we reach the end of our first Prefect meeting!" James smiled, trying to lighten the mood after his rather heart-felt speech, "We will let you all know when the next meeting is."

"Thank you," Lily added, still a bit stunned at this new James Potter.

The Prefects all left the compartment after a polite round of applause. On his way out Remus stopped to clap James on the shoulder and talk to him about how well he did for his first prefect meeting. While this was happening Lily busied herself packing her things into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, to make it look like she wasn't eavesdropping. When she turned around she was surprised to see that Remus had left and it was just her and James left in the compartment.

"That wasn't too bad, huh? Did I go okay? I don't really know the procedure for things like these..." James smiled.

"No, you did fine," Lily replied, surprising herself that she was complimenting him, "And that speech… it was really… great."

James cheeks turned a light shade a pink as he mumbled a thank you.

James Potter blushing – that's a first, Lily thought to herself with a smile.


Lily pulled open the compartment door and fell into the first seat inside.

"Well hello to you, Lils," Marlene smiled bemusedly.

Lily grunted in response.

"So… who's Head Boy?" Mary asked carefully.

"Potter," Lily snarled.

"James Potter?!" Emma exclaimed, trying to act as though she didn't already know who Lily's fellow Head was.

"That is BRAND NEW INFORMATION!" Alice cried.

Marlene, Emma and Mary looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously; leave it to Alice to give it away.

Lily gave her best friend a sharp look.

"You already knew."

The four other Gryffindor girls looked around sheepishly.

"Yes," Emma admitted, "we knew."

The Head Girl shook her head with a small smile, knowing her friends as she did; she quickly forgave them for not telling her and began to continue recounting stories from their holidays to each other.

After mindless chatting the conversation returned to the subject of James Potter being appointed as Head Boy.

"How are you going to deal with him this year, Lils?" Mary questioned the Head Girl.

"I really don't know…," the redhead replied, "don't blackmail me with this you guys, but.. during the Prefect meeting he seemed… different. He made an absolutely fantastic speech-"

Alice gasped. "Did Lily Evans just compliment James Potter? Has the world gone topsy-turvy?"

Lily rolled her eyes and jabbed her best friend in the side.

"Oh shut it. Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," at this she sent a glare towards Alice, "he was really mature. Maybe… he's changed… And he didn't try to ask me out once… He kind of looked like he really wanted to be friends or something… maybe I should give him a chance…"

As Lily drifted off, talking more to herself than to her friends, the other four Gryffindor girls shared a glance.

"Maybe she will give him a chance..," Alice surmised with one eyebrow raised.

"Well they do have to share their common room, lucky they don't have the same dorm of Lily probably would have offed herself," Marlene smiled, "but having to be around each other constantly should kind of force them to become friends and you never know, Lily might give him a chance!"

"Lily Evans give James Potter a chance… I'll have to see it to believe it!" Mary laughed.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed in outrage, "I'm right here!

"Really," Emma asked sarcastically, "we had no idea."

"Hardy-har-har Emmeline," Lily muttered, poking her tongue out at the blonde.

"There's our mature Head Girl," Marlene smirked.

"Hey!" Lily repeated, "I am extremely mature." As she said this she put both her hands on her hips with a dignified look on her face.

"Sure sure you are Lils," Alice smiled, hitting her friend lightly on the arm with a rolled up copy of the latest Witch Weekly which she had just finished reading.

"Well," Emma murmured, "This is going to be an interesting year."