Disclaimer I do not own any of the characters- JK Rowling does.

08/07/2008- apparently there was a screw up with this chapter, and i've hopefully fixed it

How It Came to Be

4. Professor Minerva McGonagall

To be honest, not for the first time, I thought that Albus had gone quite batty. His decision to make Lily Evans and James Potter Head Girl and Head Boy seemed like lighting up a house on purpose. Lily Evans had been resolved with hating him since their first year, and James had been resolved first with befriending her and later, dating her. Although James appeared to be immature, I have personally seen him as something more than what he appeared. His natural strength in transfiguration didn't take away from his other subjects. As the Head of House, I was aware of the pressure his parents had placed on him when I gave him his time-turner in third year. He tried hard to maintain his carefree attitude, and allowed many to mistaken him as 'a stuck up, arrogant toe-rag' (a personal favourite description from one Lily Evans). He handled the pressure from his family admirably, never once complaining or actively seeking removal from any of his classes like his best friend and the second in command of the Marauders, Sirius Black.

Sirius Black is something of an oddity. James and Sirius were more like brothers than Sirius and his blood brother Regulus. Their philosophy, their outlook on life and their appearance would have deceived many upon first meeting them. However their work ethic, their behaviour and their choice in girls would differentiate them. Whereas Sirius was the proverbial playboy breaking every girl's heart, James had eyes for only one girl, which made him even more attractive amongst the general female population in Hogwarts. His severe case of unrequited love did not even soften her opinion of him.

Lily Evans was a typical redhead. She was fierce in her loyalties and first opinions. She was quick-witted and passionate. She had a temper that had been mostly directed towards one hazel-eyed Gryffindor chaser. What seemed odd about this girl was not her continual rebuffs of James Potter's seemingly endless pursuit, but her predisposition to dislike James upon first sight in first year, which had held firm. I am inclined to think, that some of the time; she doesn't quite know what to think of about the poor boy, though.

Especially this year.

The James Potter Hogwarts had known was very much gone, from an objective point of view. Not that his achievements were lacking- no, Gryffindor was still tipped to win the Quidditch Cup, and James was still doing well academically- but his energy was noticeably absent. There were no outbursts of tender feelings over breakfast, the four boys spent more time huddled together quietly than they did in third and fourth year, and for once, James was acting seriously (no pun intended, thank you very much).

It very much appeared that Albus had made the right choice, and that once again that I had underestimated him.

Expecting to be continually reminding him of his responsibility as Head Boy this year, I was utterly shocked when he had already written a list of issues which he had hoped to address during the year, including, to my absolute surprise, inter-house relations. Considering his known distaste of the Slytherins, he brought it up with so much conviction that one couldn't help but think he had always been so unprejudiced. He also appeared much more subdued- the mischievous twinkle in his eyes which had always been in his eyes when he was suspected of pranks but had yet to be proven guilty- was gone. It was as if he was merely going through the motions, ticking off the boxes until the end of school.

I was particularly disappointed, as were some of my other colleagues, that there were no more pranks from the Marauders. During such dark times, with You-Know-Who terrorising the entire magical world, a little reminder of the colour of youth was much like a breath of fresh air. There was, of course, no proof of them causing the mischief, however, sometimes, you could see the nervous fidgeting of Peter Pettigrew, the twinkle in Remus Lupin's eye, the silent excitement of Sirius Black and the quiet confidence of James Potter. Of course, there was never any proof that could tie them to the pranks, but the sophistication of the pranks increased as the boys moved from one grade to the next. But perhaps the boys had finally grown up.

Or just their leader.

I suspected it didn't have anything to do with finishing his education at Hogwarts and going into the real world- as his head of house, I knew he was aiming to become an Auror, which was very much in his grasp- but with the end of his legendary pursuit of Lily Evans.

In the Head meetings, when she wasn't speaking, Lily had picked up the habit of staring at James when she thought no one was looking. She meekly agreed with everything James said and never once did she disagree with what he said like she had done in previous years, even when she was wrong in Transfiguration. Whilst James toiled away in Transfiguration taking notes, which I know he didn't really need, Lily had taken to daydreaming or turning back and glancing at the Head Boy. I was concerned that the Heads weren't fulfilling their duties to the fullest potential, and was planning to bring it up at the first heads meeting after the Christmas break.

However, to my astonishment, they were shyly holding hands as they entered the Great Hall on New Years Day. However, as quick as a flash, before any other fully alert person could detect this observation, their hands had dropped to their sides, but they remained together, thoroughlyimmersed in their conversation.

It appears the insightful piece of gossip from Rosmerta last night had some degree of truth in it.

So naturally, by the end of the day, rumours were abound as to how the pair had (finally) got together. However, there was no confirmation from either's friends- they appeared to be just as clueless as the rest of the school, which was surprising, considering there had been, up to that point, almost no secrets between the boys (besides the obvious- Remus' condition).

When term begun, all of James actions suggested that there was something between the two which was more than friendship. He was always the gentleman, allowing her to pass through doors first, carrying her bag of books, pulling the seat out for her in class etc. She would blush prettily every time, but there was no solid proof of an attachment. They hadn't been caught kissing in the corridors, nor did anyone who listened to their conversations detect any terms of endearment cross either's lips. Although it had to be noted that Lily had progressed to calling James by his first name.

The atmosphere of the Head meetings had also changes. Instead of only James actively speaking, Lily became more like her old, confident self. She wasn't bent on disagreeing with James, like in the past, and only disagreed when his ideas appears too farfetched or under-developed. James had also regained some of his old airs, but he was still subdued. He was ever cautious, thinking before acting. They were both tight-lipped about the status of their relationship; conscious of the bomb-sized hints their teachers were dropping. They insisted that there had been a misunderstanding on Lily's half, and that all the bridges had been mended.

However, any doubts we had about their relationship were done away with halfway through February.

Valentines Day, to be exact.

It wasn't as extravagant, or as, well, loud, as it was expected, especially by the Marauders' usual standards in the past. Instead, it was thoughtful and sweet.

Lily came into the Great Hall at breakfast, sitting next to James as she had been since the beginning of the term.

The mail started coming in, as usual, when a snowy owl dropped a single red rose on top of her breakfast. And then another. And another: until there were a dozen crimson roses. Lily blushed bright red, although, it went unnoticed as the female population of Hogwarts were looking at their own gifts for the holiday. It was private and understated. Much like their relationship thus far, I suspect. A few others on the teachers' table also noticed Lily's gifts; amazed that she hadn't thrown them back at James, as she had in the past.

As gnomes came into the hall singing valentines to the girls, James and Lily slipped out, heading in the direction of the Entrance to the school. Probably to enjoy some relative peace and quiet before classes start. And for once, they were holding hands for the whole world to see; yet no one aside from a few of the other professors seemed interested. There was a knowing twinkle in Albus' eyes.

I suspect he is a romantic at heart.

In class, they sat in their usual places: James next to Sirius near the back of the room, and behind Lily next to Mary.

However, at the end of class, James picked up Lily's book and pecked Lily on the cheek, before taking her hand and heading out to lunch.

At lunch, they sat with their friends, the group of girls and boys who had in the past ignored each other (well, on the girls part, anyway) were talking as if they had always been the best of friends.

When Lily and James chose to slip out, they all had a go at the couple, only having found out the truth that morning the pair were 'officially' going out.

The couple were absent at dinner.

Not exactly promoting the kind of behaviour expected from the Head students.

With the current turmoil in the Wizarding world, the danger of leaving the school exceeded the danger of leaving the Ministry of Magic, as it was rumoured that the only person that You-Know-Who feared was Albus Dumbledore.

However, knowing the skill of the particular wizard and witch, and the desire to see their relationship progress, I chose to turn a blind eye.

That, and I knew that Rosmerta had eyes and ears all over Hogsmeade, so if they ran into any trouble, the school would be immediately notified (as the school did tend to be more lax for this particular holiday) and there would be help at hand in the wholly magical town.

It was with a fond heart that I said farewell to this particular group of seventh years. They all had the potential to go so far, all knowing of the struggles of the world which they were about to be part of, all starry-eyed with ideals that would keep them motivated to continue fighting against the evils which threatened to destroy the future generations of the wizarding world.

And the favourite couple of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry left hand in hand, their combined love for each other undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, especially in the War.

A/N: Only an epilogue to go... please r&r