A/N: So! I thought I'd update again because of these totally nice reviews I got from good friends, it was totally awesome to see that they liked it! Anyways, the last chapter was merely filler and the story starts properly NOW. I love this chapter so much, it always makes me laugh.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Becky who RPs (sooo excited), to zoesalvatore for reviewing awesomely and also to LeilaThe RainbowNinja for reviewing too. You make my world go round!

Disclaimer: I admit that I do not own the Potterverse in any way, shape or form, though I wish I did. I do own Ylana though. I also wrote the Sorting Hat's song all by myself! Woo!

Chapter Two
Fall on your face
'Throwing Punches', Paramore

At six o'clock, the Hogwarts Express slowed to a halt in Hogsmeade station where the familiar cries of 'Firs' years! This way!' greeted the seventh-years. Lily and James ushered everyone off the train.

"By the way, Evans. We're supposed to be in the boats with the first-years!" James shouted over to Lily. She nodded and they shut the compartment doors along the side of the Hogwarts Express, next heading off towards the Black lake. The first-years were just getting into the small boats and Hagrid walked over to them

"Alrigh', James, Lily? Wanna grab a boat here 'n there?" he asked and walked over to a boat for himself. James climbed into a boat containing three boys while Lily chose one with three girls in. The small wooden contraptions started off at a slow pace, sailing gracefully through the Black water and they were nearly at the castle when a loud splash behind her notified Lily that a student had fallen into the lake. She twisted around quickly and saw Potter's head break the surface of the water, spluttering and casting around for his glasses. He pointed at one of the boys, who was laughing raucously, and said: "Five points from whatever house you get sorted into! You could've bloody killed me!" This only made the first-years laugh harder, so he swam blindly over to the side of the boat Lily was in. She shook her head, smiling, and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the seat next to her.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter.

"The littlest one with the messy hair pushed me out the side of the damn boat! Told me he'd seen the Giant Squid, so I looked around to see if he was right (you know how they are, always scaring themselves) and the next thing I knew I was in the sodding lake!" He exclaimed, spitting part of an underwater plant from his mouth. "I can't see a thing," he added angrily, reaching up to swipe his soaked hair from his eyes. Pointing his wand into the water, he muttered "Accio glasses," and the round glasses zoomed out of the lake and into his outstretched hand. He put them on gratefully and blinked a few times at his returned sight. Lily stared at him, trying her hardest not to laugh as she took in his sodden form. "What?" he asked, looking down at his robes.

"Nothing," she replied. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully before turning away again, pulling various weeds from every part of himself that he could reach and chuckling.

Within ten minutes, they were standing in the entrance hall; James was shivering violently as Lily pushed the oak doors to the great hall open. The Ravenclaw table and all the Hufflepuffs started whispering at the sight of James Potter looking as though he had half drowned, while the Gryffindors and Slytherins burst into laughter. A tall boy with long, messy black hair that fell elegantly into storm-grey eyes stoop up and promptly shoved Peter Pettigrew out of the way so the Head Boy and Girl could sit down next to him.

"What in the name of Merlin happened?" Sirius gasped, clutching his ribs as he laughed in his bark-like fashion. James pushed his hair out of his eyes and began explaining what had happened, gesturing wildly, splattering everyone in the near vicinity with stagnant water.

"...and then, the cheeky sod, started bloody laughing! Laughing, I tell you..." he said, while everyone was waiting for Professor McGonagall to re-enter the hall with the new students.

"Tell you what, Prongs, old mate, this kid doesn't half remind me of you. Remember when we pushed the head boy out of our boat when we were in first year?" Sirius said, a grin forming on his face.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Wasn't that Albert Pringle?" James replied, frowning.

"Yeah. He took points off us every chance he got after that." Sirius said, sighing. "And to think we were almost always innocent." Lily snorted while Ylana rolled her eyes at them. "I said almost," Sirius reminded them just as Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall with a line of eleven year-olds behind her. She set the sorting hat down on a small, three-legged stool. The whole school watched the hat in anticipation as a small rip opened and formed a mouth.

When I was once a new-bought hat,
Hogwarts School did start;
Without the wars which hold us back,
We all beat with one heart.
"The best way to educate
Young sorcerers," did say
Bold Gryffindor, who hatched a plan,
To make what we know today.
Young Slytherin, who did approve,
Agreed with this idea,
And swore that he would help his friends
When the time came near.
Fair Hufflepuff, who did add in
The path would be quite hard-
They would encounter peril there
And would not leave unscarred.
"We must be cautious while we work,
And so remember our goal,"
Said intellectual Ravenclaw,
Who kept the group as whole.
Smart Gryffindor, he found a way,
To sort the new-found students,
Charmed this hat so he could choose,
While house he deemed most prudent.
So now you know the story of
Our large and magical school;
Come slip me onto your great head
And sit upon this stool.

The Great Hall rang with applause when the Sorting Hat finished its song. James was having a little trouble with clapping, as the sleeves of his robes were still heavy with water. Lily sighed and waved her want at him, causing his cloak to steam and then become dry. He grinned at her and then proceeded to run his hand through his hair, making it even messier than it had been before.

McGonagall was unrolling a scroll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will place the hat on your head and sit on the stool. When the sorting hat announces what house you are in, you will sit at the appropriate table." She chose this moment to sweep a stern look across the hall at each and every student before continuing.

"Ashton, Marie!" A tall girl with short brown hair walked confidently up to the stool and pulled the sorting hat eagerly onto her head.

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted to tumulus applause.

"Baddock, Ashleigh!"

"Slytherin!" There was a lot of booing from the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables while the Slytherins clapped loudly.

And so it went on until the last student, "Wilkinson, Adam!" had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Marie Ashton turned out to be a distant cousin of Ylana's, and therefore of Sirius', as Ylana and Sirius were close cousins. Ylana's mother, Elizabeth, had been a crouch before she married Augustus Thomson. Ylana had disowned her family after she had found out that they were death eaters in her fourth year and had gathered up the gold she had inherited from an uncle and bought a small flat in Muggle London. It turned out that the same uncle had left Sirius a considerable amount of gold as well and he used it to buy his own house in the summer of fifth year. Both Ylana and Sirius were often invited over to Potter Manor for Sunday lunch.

Professor Dumbledore was just getting ready to stand up and address the school when a short, stumpy witch entered the hall. A lot of people only noticed her because she was making a funny clunking noise while she walked between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. It took her a moment to reach the staff table, but she then took a seat next to Dumbledore, who leaned over to say something to which the witch shook her head.

Finally, the Sorting Hat and stool vanished while Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"To our new students – welcome. To our old students – welcome back. I have only three words to say to you: enjoy the feast." he said, sitting down as gold platters of roast potatoes, roast beef and other delicacies appeared on the long wooden tables. Lily piled a bit of everything onto her plate, avoiding the pineapple rock which was also scattered across the table for some reason. Lily was halfway through cutting up her Yorkshire pudding when a girl with long blonde hair picked up a spoon of mashed potato.

"There's something different about this mash than usual," she said, looking at the crushed potato. Lily put some in her mouth and frowned.

"You know what, Marlene, I think you might be right." she replied, looking at it curiously. To her left, a girl who was in her dorm with short blonde hair called Alice Prewett tried some too, as did Dorcas Meadowes and Ylana opposite her.

"I think I know what it is," said a voice from a few seats down from Lily, who looked down the table to see who had spoken. Predictably, it was Sirius. He put some mash on his spoon, aimed, and flung it at Marlene. "It's on your face." he finished.

Marlene wiped the mash out of her eyes slowly, glaring at Sirius. "I hate you right now." She said while Ylana and Sirius laughed. Lily looked at James, half hoping to see him berating his best friend for this complete and utter display of idiocy. However, he was laughing.

"Padfoot, mate, I think you should apologise," he said, making a tissue appear in midair, passing it to Marlene who snatched it from his fingers as though it might be contagious. Lily stared at him in shock of his relatively kind action of conjuring a tissue (usually, he just left you there, covered in whatever disgusting goo the marauders had poured on you). "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Lily replied, looking back down at her plate. There was a pause.

"Were you staring at me?" he questioned, a tone of amusement in both his voice and twinkling hazel eyes.

Lily sensed that he would start teasing her about something she hadn't even done; "Of course not, Potter. Now shut up and eat." She snapped, half expecting him to say something witty and romantic. To her surprise, though, he said nothing.

After Lily's second helping of lemon meringue pie, Professor Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat.

"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts, I would like to introduce two new Professors this year. Professor Tindall, who will be this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and also Professor Unwin, our new Divination teacher."

There was a polite smattering of applause for Professor Tindall, the woman who had made her way up to the staff table, and Professor Unwin, a batty tall woman with mad curly hair that resembled a birds nest more than a little with wide dark eyes.

"I must remind you all the forest is out of bounds to all students. Yes, that means you too, Mr's Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew." There was a pause, in which many people laughed; Lily scowled. "Congratulations to our new prefects and our new Head Girl, Miss Lily Evans, and Head Boy, Mr James Potter." Again, Professor Dumbledore paused to allow applause to fill the hall. Lily smiled and held her head that little bit higher. "Quidditch trials will begin on the thirtieth of September. Please apply for a place with your house Quidditch Captain; may I remind all first-years that they are forbidden from playing Quidditch. Now, you all must be up early tomorrow for your lessons, and I imagine that you would like some sleep. Pip, pip." There was a loud scraping noise as all the benches were pulled back and Lily leaped to her feet, ushering the students out of the way so that the first-year Gryffindors could follow the prefects. A sixth-year walked past Lily.

"Wait there. The first-years go first. Wait!" she called, but he appeared not to have heard her. Lily was just about to go after him when James put a hand on the sixth-years shoulder, pulling him back.

"Listen to the Head Girl, three points from Gryffindor." Lily was shocked but pleased that Potter had finally stepped up to him responsibilities. Though the measly three points he had taken surely had to constitute to the fact that he was unwilling to take points from his own house.

Once they had let the first-years into the common room and almost everyone had gone to bed, Lily and James collapsed into two of the comfortable armchairs by the fire, exhausted by the night's work. After a moment of sleepy silence, Lily turned to the black-haired Gryffindor boy and sent him what could be considered a polite smile.

"You did a good job tonight, Potter, considering that it was your first night as Head Boy." she told him awkwardly, not used to paying James Potter, of all people, compliments.

For a moment, he just sat there and stared at her in shock, but then a surprised yet warmly genuine smile lit up his face. "Um, thanks Evans. You did a good job yourself."

She snorted, unimpressed. "I've been a Prefect since fifth-year, Potter; it's all in the practice."

Instead of arguing with her, he just shrugged, clearly deciding that he was too tired to get worked up. "I suppose that you're right, but still; more responsibilities now, Evans. I guess you've taken them on well."

At that, Lily had nothing to say. "Well... thanks Potter. I suppose. Anyway, it's been a long night; we'd better get to bed." She said slowly, standing up, reluctant to leave the comfort of the armchair and the warm fire, walking towards the stairs and stretching her arms above her head as she did so. James nodded but made no move to get up. Lily stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked back; he was still sitting in the same position as she had left him. "Are you not coming?" she asked impatiently, too tired to pretend to be polite anymore.

"I'm waiting for Sirius to get back from the kitchens." He mumbled, running a hand through his already messy hair, making it stick on end like he had just walked off the Quidditch pitch.

"It's past curfew," she reminded him tersely.

"He won't get caught."

"Make sure he doesn't!" she snapped. "I don't want to have to give my best friend's cousin detention on the first night back."

Potter sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Just go to bed, Evans," he muttered. She glared and stomped all the way up to her dormitory, climbing into her pyjamas angrily and then throwing herself into her four-poster. Damn Potter and his rule-breaking friends.

A/N: So I actually really like this chapter. It was exhausting to type up from my remote laptop, and believe me, over 2500 words is a massive amount to type when you've been playing intense badminton for an hour. I just like the fact that Lily and James had a civil conversation. Granted, it barely comprised of ten words, but still – it's a breakthrough for them. Anyways, review!

-Lauren