The welcoming feast was probably the best food Lily had ever tasted. The ham, the potatoes, the carrots, the rhubarb pie all made her mouth water and went back for thirds. She was in a state of food comatose when an owl dropped a note in front of her. It simply read: Hope you enjoyed the rhubarb pie Lily. Please come to my office after the feast has ended. Dumbledore. Lily looked over to where James was sitting and saw that he got a letter as well, but it seemed as if he still had a while to go with the mountain of dessert on his plate. Lily sighed with contentment and placed the parchment in her pocket. Mel and Tammy were sitting opposite to her, the former still working her way through a custard tart while the latter was resting her head on her hand trying to stay awake.

"What was the note about Lily?" Tammy asked with a yawn.

"Oh just Head Girl stuff. I need to go see Dumbledore after the feast."

"But you promised that we would catch up!" Mel interrupted with a full mouth, "I haven't seen you since July."

"I promise I did nothing exciting, except work at mum's shop, clean the house and answer letters."
"Ooo who sent you letters Lily?! A secret admirer?"

"Pfft no they were just from James. Him and Sirius were stuck at home as well so he sent me one every few days." Mel looked ready to tease Lily some more when thankfully Professor McGonagall indicated that the feast was over. Lily hopped up and started to head towards the door.

"Don't think this conversation is finished Lily!" Mel shouted after her. Lily slightly blushed. She didn't like James that way, they were just friends and that was all it was.

Lily met up with James at the gargoyle that was the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He looked just as sleepy as she felt and gave her a tired smile when he saw her approaching.

"Did Dumbledore give you the password in your note? Mine just said to come to his office after the feast."

Lily pulled out the note from her pocket. "Mine said the same except he added 'hope you enjoyed the rhubarb pie'". Instantly the gargoyle began to move.

James laughed, "Ha! 'Rhubarb pie', gotta hand it to Dumbledore." And they both made their way up to the study.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk nursing a cup of, what Lily assumed to be, tea. His eyes were closed and was humming a nonsense tune. Both Lily and James paused at the doorway not knowing if Dumbledore was aware of their arrival.

"Sit, sit, sit," Dumbledore said, "Do you want a cup of tea? It's a delightful blend I'm trying. Came upon it when experimenting with remedies for when one has had too many Raspberry Fizzes." James and Lily eyed the cup in Dumbledore's hand and after noticing it's lumpy consistency politely declined.

"So, Head boy and Head girl, I trust you read your letters well and are up to speed on all your duties?" Both nodded. "Good, good. Now the password for the prefect bathroom is Beetle Beans and I expect the first two-month roster for patrols to be finalised by the end of the week. The teachers have agreed to do patrols until you two have organised one, so I suggest you hurry before I have a mutiny," he added with a wink. "Now that seems like everything, you may go. There is a bowl of Lemon Drops by the door, which you are welcome to take a few." The two Heads thanked him and quickly left, eager to make it back to Gryffindor tower and their beds.

Lily and James walked in silence, whether it was because something was left unsaid or they were simply too tired to start up a conversation was left to be seen. It was only when they got to the portrait hole that Lily brought up something that had been nagging her.

"James? In all seriousness why didn't you tell me you were Head Boy?"

James sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, "I really don't know why. It seems so stupid now but I felt that of all the people that could've been Head Boy I was way down on the list, and when I got that letter with the badge I couldn't believe it. I don't know, I thought you would've been mad it was me and not someone like Remus." James avoided Lily's eyes and Lily gave him a quick hug.

"Hey, it doesn't matter. I mean if it was Sirius I wouldn't have cared, though if Sirius was made Head Boy I would be sincerely worried about the mental state of Dumbledore. What I'm saying is Dumbledore thought you were the best person for the job and I don't disagree with him. Now come on, I want to sleep." Lily gave an encouraging smile and said "Yellow Tulips" to the portrait and both of them walked inside.

James collapsed on his bed with a groan. Sirius walked over and flopped on top of him.

"Ugh don't do that Padfoot, I'm gonna be sick."

"Now is the time to party!"

"Now is the time to sleep." Yawned Peter.

"Never! I will not fall into the trap of sleep until I'm dead!" Proclaimed Sirius, who was overdramatically fainting on the ground.

"Get off it Padfoot and go to bed. You can party all you want tomorrow."

"Mister Head Boy over here going all square. What happened to the James that would run around with me all night playing tricks on Filch?"

"He will return after he has had a full nights sleep. Shut your gob and your eyes."

With a defeated 'humph' Sirius turned towards his bed flinging clothes out of his trunk, trying to find his pajamas. James sat up on his bed and whispered to his friend:

"Padfoot? Do you think I'll be a good Head Boy?"

The anxiety in his voice made Sirius go up and punch him in the arm.

"Yes you complete idiot, you will be the best Head Boy that there ever was and they will erect a statue of you in your honour because of how awesome you were. Stop doubting yourself mate. You'll be fine."
James couldn't help but give him a grateful smile. Sirius always knew how to cheer him up, and even if he didn't fully believe him, it was enough.

Over in the girl's dormitory Lily crept in to a silent room. All the other girls were asleep and Lily did not want to face the wrath of Katherine Butler, one of her roommates, who became extremely grumpy if someone woke her up without good cause. She felt her way through her trunk, trying to find something that resembled pajamas, and after changing she slid under her covers. It had been a long day but Lily couldn't help but feel excited for the year ahead. Sleep came slowly, with thoughts of tall black-haired boys with hazel eyes.

Tammy moaned. "Potions, Transfiguration AND Arithmancy all in one day, with only lunch to break it all up! Who did this timetable? A toad would have organised a better timetable, hell my grandma who is 90 years old and blind would be better. I mean seriously come..." Lily drowned out her friend's rant and focused on her crumpet and new schedule. Potions with Slughorn again. Lily had hoped that she would get Professor Dolova, but it seemed that Slughorn got the 7th year students this year. Professor Slughorn was a great teacher and Lily enjoyed his classes a lot however she had never had Dolova and was curious to know what she was like as a teacher. The rest was expected: Professor McGonagall for Transfiguration, Professor Fairbourne for Ancient Runes, Flitwick for Charms, Kettle for Herbology, Binns for History of Magic and Professor Renshaw for Defence against the Dark Arts. Melinda sat beside her and was chatting with Olive, their other roommate. They seemed to be arguing about the positive and negative ramifications of Felix Felicis.

"But how could it be genuine?" Olive said as she buttered a slice of toast. "How is the use of it a genuine experience and not something controlling your actions and overtaking your mind?" Olive was a muggle-born and fascinated about the psychological effects of magic, particularly in potions.

"It doesn't control you! It just gives you a boost and unlocks possibilities that you had never considered."

"Yes, but would that be an invasion of the mind? And why were these…" Lily left them to argue and turned back to Tammy who was still grumpy about her timetable.

"Hey at least we have Ancient Runes together," Lily pointed at her timetable, "and I heard that Fairbourne went to Turkey during the summer to study the runes of the Persian wizard tribes! Plus we have Charms, Transfiguration and Potions so stop your grouching it's not like they've thrown you into the lion's den."

Tammy sighed in agreement, "Have you started on the patrol schedule yet?"

"No. I need to see when James is free so we can work on it. Why? Anyone you want to patrol the empty Hogwarts halls with?!" Lily teasingly suggested.

"Oh, uh… um, not really. But if you find yourself having to put me with Paul I wouldn't be against it." Tammy tried to conceal her blush with her long brown hair but Lily knew she had tomatoes for checks.

Breakfast was soon over and Tammy, Lily, Mel and Olive were all heading to Charms. It was somewhat uneventful with Flitwick revising non-verbal spells and giving the expected speech of doom about NEWTS. Herbology followed with another speech about the importance of revision in order to attain a passable mark. Lily wasn't worried but she was sure that a few faces were turning ashen at the prospect of all the homework that had already been given. She spotted James during the lunch break along with Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"Lily!" James said with a smile, "I was going to go and find you actually. When are you free to do the roster?"

"Right now actually. I'm free for the rest of the day."

James looked down at what Lily assumed to be his timetable, "Hmm. Well I have Care of Magical Creatures next. How about after that? Library?"

"Sounds good! See you then." And with that settle she went off to find her friends.

"So," Melinda began, "you and James wrote to each other during the summer eh?"

Lily rolled her eyes as she sat down on the grass. It was still vaguely summer and the climate demanded for them to sit outside.

"It wasn't like that. We had just become good friends at the beginning of this year and we were both bored with nothing to do, so we decided to keep in touch."

"Aha and so what did you talk about?"

"I don't know. Stuff. What working with mum was like. Muggle and wizard bands. Questions about homework revision. Just normal stuff."

"Aw sounds very romantic!"

"Cut it out it's nothing like that!" Lily playfully pushed Mel, "I don't even like him that way. And why can't a guy and girl be friends?"

"Oh they can be friends," Tammy added to the conversation, "it's just those where one of the friends had spent five years asking the other out."

Lily reddened at that reminder. Sure James had spent majority of their time at Hogwarts being excessively annoying towards her but he had cut it out in sixth year, which Lily attributed to him and Katherine dating for a few months.

"Ok then. I'll prove it to both of you. If James and I are still friends by the beginning of next year then you BOTH owe me a butterbeer and a chocolate frog."

She shook their hands as they nodded enthusiastically. "Done!" they both said, and Lily was very much looking forward to her butterbeer and chocolate.