A/N: Hello, everyone. Thank you to those who read my first chapter. I truly do appreciate it. On a side note, I meant to mention why I picked such odd names for James's parents. James's mother is Dalriada, which means free expression, creativity, and beauty. I chose this for a reason, as you will soon see. James's father, Aldaric, is named so because it means noble and regal leader, which fitted my idea of his being MOM in my story, and I like both of their names. Okay, well, on with the story! Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Bloody Hell
"Goodbye, sweetheart. Write us letters once a week and try not to get into too much trouble." Rose Evans said, wiping her eyes. Her youngest daughter was going off to her final year of schooling.
"Oh, I promise." Lily said. She tucked her hair behind her ear. Dorea and Alice stood behind her, waiting for her to say goodbye to her parents. Dorea's mother couldn't take them to King's Crossing. She worked in the Ministry of Magic and had become very busy lately. Lily's parents were able to pick the girls up and take them. Petunia wouldn't come.
"Goodbye mum and dad." Lily said She kissed and hugged both of her parents, and just as she was about to grab her trunk and go to the Hogwarts express, a deep voice yelled "Lily!"
Lily, her friends and her family turned around to see the Marauders, being led by Mr. James Potter himself. Lily groaned, her friends smiled, and her parents looked very confused.
"Lily love, I haven't talked to you all summer!" James said. Sirius and Remus both snickered at her.
"Thank God we haven't." Lily said, glaring at the boy standing in front of her. "I get enough of your arrogant manner at school."
James grinned. "You know you love and miss me when I'm not around." In a quick motion, he pulled her into a tight hug.
"Potter! I can't breathe!" Lily gasped, muffled by his shirt.
Instead of letting her go, he flung the girl over his shoulder and shook Mr. Evans's hand.
"Hello, I'm James Potter, future son-in-law." He said.
Lily's parents shook his hand.
"Um, hello." Henry said. Remus and Sirius snickered whilst Dorea tried not to laugh and Alice tried her hardest to glare.
"Put her down, James. You'll make her murderous." Alice warned.
"I'll make her alive with passion, Al!" James said.
Alice rolled her eyes and said hello to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
"How was your summer, Alice?" Remus asked cordially. The small girl lit up immediately.
"It was wonderful. Frank finally asked me out." She grinned, a deep blush settling in her cheeks. Remus hugged her and Sirius congratulated her.
"Congrats, Al. Glad to know Frank finally manned up and asked you out." Sirius said.
"He was always whining about asking you out." Peter said. "It was getting to be almost as annoying as James going on and on and on about Evans."
Alice scowled and looked over to her best friend. She was still thrown over James's shoulder, and he was animatedly talking to Lily's father about cars.
"You just put your foot on a thingie and it moves?!" James said, awed by the contraption.
"Um, yes. They've been around for quite a while now." Henry Evans said.
"James, don't you ever pay attention in Muggle Studies?" Remus asked him.
"Of course not!" James said, "I must see this thing called a car sometime…"
"POTTER IF YOU DO NOT PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT I WILL WRING YOUR NECK THE SECOND I CAN GET MY HANDS AROUND YOUR THROAT!" Lily screamed. Henry Evans chuckled.
"Good luck, James." He said. "Goodbye, Lily love." Henry said. James turned around so Mr. and Mrs. Evans could face their daughter. She looked murderous.
"Goodbye, my love." Her mother said, kissing her cheek, "Patience is key, honey." She said with a wink. Lily huffed. Her father kissed her cheek as well, and waved goodbye as James started walking towards the Express, his friends, Dorea and Alice all in tow. Remus, who was the only one of age, levitated Lily's luggage ahead of him.
"James Potter, you are the most arrogant, pig-headed, egotistical JERK I have ever met!" Lily yelled, pounding his back with her small fists. James only laughed and said, "I know, and one day when we have children, you'll be able to tell them how wrong you were about me."
Lily screamed, and a bunch of first years jumped in surprise.
"HELP ME!" Lily cried out to them, "CALL THE POLICE! CALL THE MINISTRY! I AM BEING HELD AGAINST MY WILL!"
The poor first years looked scared, and the older, returning students who had seen Lily and James in action only rolled their eyes and continued to board the train.
James easily climbed the train's steps and finally set Lily down in the crowded Hogwarts Express corridor.
"James Potter, you are the most miserable person ever! I can't stand you!" Lily screamed. She pulled her hand back to smack him, but James grabbed it and pulled her against his chest.
"Lily, Lily, Lily… One day you will realize how in love I am with you, regardless of all the names you call me." He said, smiling. He reached down and kissed her cheek. "Green looks ravishing on you, by the way."
He let go of her and walked off to find a compartment with Sirius and Peter. Remus stayed behind as Lily seethed with anger, pulling her emerald green sweater into place.
"I'm sorry about him, Lily." Remus looked truly sorry for his friend's actions. "He really does like you, you know. He just has a stupid way of showing it."
Lily huffed. "Yeah, well, he has a stupid way for everything!" she said. "Can't he just grow up?"
Remus grinned. "Oh, I think this year he will be doing quite a bit of growing up…"
Lily eyed Remus. "What do you mean? Why this year?"
"Oh, nothing." Remus said happily. "Did you get Head Girl?" Lily's eyes immediately lit up, and he knew he had his answer for sure.
"Yes! I was so happy when I saw it. Now we can be Heads together, Remus!"
Remu's bright smile fell a bit. "I didn't get Head Boy, Lily." He said. "I don't think with my… illness I would be properly suited for the position. The Head Boy needs to be there whenever he can, and I can't." Remus said. He almost looked sad. Lily certainly did.
"Then who else could it possibly be?" She said. Remus face broke into a mischievous grin.
"You'll see soon enough. See you at the Prefect's meeting." He grinned before he took off in the same direction his friends had disappeared. Lily shook her head in confusion before she pulled her luggage. Her friends had abandoned her and she was left to fight off all the people in the hallway. After a few moments, she finally found the compartment her friends were in.
"Sorry we left you Lily." Dorea said, "Alice wanted to meet up with Frank quickly." She rolled her eyes. Lily smiled when she looked over to Alice, who was happily perched on Frank Longbottom's lap.
"Hi, Lily." Frank said.
"Hi." Lily said, sitting down beside Dorea. "You guys are never going to believe what Remus told me."
"What's that?" Dorea said, pulling out chocolate frogs and handing each to one of her friends.
"He didn't get Head Boy." Lily munched on the chocolate Dorea handed her.
"What?!" Alice said. "How could he not get it? Everyone knows that Remus is the ideal Head Boy!"
"Mhm." Dorea agreed, her mouth full of chocolate, "Why didn't he get it?"
"He… he didn't say." Lily lied. She was the only one who knew of Remus's illness. "He just said Dumbledore must have had a good reason."
"Well, you know Dumbledore, he's the wisest wizard we've ever had. He must have had a good reason. Remus is right." Frank wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist.
"You don't know who it is?" Lily asked.
"Nope, not a clue." Frank said. Lily cupped her hand around her chin and thought.
"Maybe Amos Diggory? He is Ravenclaw's Prefect." Alice said.
"Hm… Maybe. He's too much of a player, though, and he can be really stuck up sometimes." Dorea said, "Maybe Riley Dorcas? He's a Gryffindor, and he's always very kind to the younger students."
"Hm… no, I don't think so. I've caught him snogging girls after hours way too many for Dumbledore to choose him." Lily mused.
"Well Lily, you'll find out soon enough. Aren't the Heads supposed to have a meeting soon?" Frank said. Lily looked down at her watch.
"Bloody hell! You're right. I need to get dressed. Frank, can you step out for a moment?" Lily started pulling her robes out of her trunk. Frank laughed and walked out so Lily could hastily get dressed. For some reason, an onset of nerves struck her. She had been positive Remus would get Head Boy, and it unnerved her to not know who it could be now. Sighing and checking her appearance one last time, she said goodbye to her friends and Frank, and ventured out into the hallway. It was much less packed now that everyone was situated, but still congested. After a few minutes of struggling down the hallway, she came to the compartment that the Prefect's held their meetings. She took a deep breath before opening the door.
The sight that met her eyes was almost too much for her to bear.
"Potter…?" she said weakly.
James turned around, and gave her a genuine smile.
"Yeah, it's me." James said. "I'm sorry it's not someone you wanted it to be. If it's any consolation I passed out when I got the letter."
Lily's jaw dropped. This could not be happening. There was no way in hell that James Potter could be Head Boy. No way.
"You can't be Head Boy. You nicked this, didn't you? Who's is it? Remus's? Did you steal it from him and get him to lie about it? Is this some cruel joke?" Lily said. She felt almost light headed, and James looked almost hurt.
"No, I'm not joking." He said. "Trust me, Lily, I was just as surprised as you are right now."
Lily still felt rather weak. This couldn't be happening. It just wasn't right. "I… I… I'm going to pass out." She said. In one stride, James had crossed the small space and guided her to an arm chair, where she sat down. She was very pale.
"Merlin, Lily. You look like you've seen a ghost." James said. He kneeled in front of her.
"You can't be Head Boy, Potter." Lily croaked, "You can't be. How is it even possible?"
James shook his head. "I wish I could tell you, Lils. I really do. I know this is a shock and a disappointment to you, but I'm sorry. I don't know what else to tell you."
Lily tried breathing deeply. The badge on his chest twinkled brightly at her, and she was forced to resign to the fact that he was Head Boy. She looked into his hazel eyes and gulped. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that James Potter, infamous prankster and slacker, would get the coveted Head Boy position. She could hardly stand James, and Dumbledore knew that; they had been in his office countless times for having shouting matches in the school. What could he possibly be thinking? He had to of had some plan up his purple and star bedazzled sleeves.
"Lily? Hello? Are you there?" James said, pulling her back to reality.
"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine. Just… surprised." She said. James smiled at her.
"Don't go into shock on me, Evans. I can't handle that my first day as Head Boy." He joked. Lily cracked a smile.
'What in the bloody hell are you doing, Evans? Smiling? At Potter?! You've officially gone loony'. Lily thought wildly.
"I have a proposition, Lily." James said, standing up.
"Oh?" Lily said, wiping the smile off her face.
"Yes. I think we should put all our differences aside and try to be at least… civil to one another. It's the only way we're going to make this work." He said. Lily's jaw dropped. This truly couldn't be happening. First, James was appointed Head Boy, and now he had actually come up with a reasonable, mature idea.
"Um… okay." Lily said, and she shook James's outstretched hand. James grinned wildly.
"Good. Let's get down to business." He said.
Bloody hell.
