A/N: Thanks for your reviews. Please enjoy the next installment, the real drama begins now!!
Trust that
"Let's get on this bloody train…" Sirius said angrily after he and James had said goodbye to the Potters. He was in a very fowl mood having seen his mother and father drop Regulus off at the station and ignoring Sirius completely. They had never once taken either of them to the Hogwarts Express before. Not to mention the train ride would be completely boring when James, Lily, Emma and Remus were at the Prefect's meeting. Peter would only hold his attention for a little while. He knew he was going to miss Carly being there. He was actually come to think of it, completely miserable. He hadn't seen Lily since Diagon Alley and now most of her time would be spent at some stupid meeting. He wasn't pleased in the least.
James and Sirius found Remus and Peter sitting in their usual compartment. James tried not to be nervous, but he knew he was. Remus had finally convinced him that he was worthy of the Head Boy position. The fact that his Sixth Year marks were the highest in the year helped him a little. He was also nervous about how Lily and the other prefects would react to his new position. Although they had seen Lily and Emma after finding out the news, no one had talked about school while they were at Diagon Alley to spare Carly's feelings. He knew there was going to be a lot to talk about. He glanced at Sirius who was barely speaking to him today. He was convinced James was abandoning him and aiming for bigger and better things. Sirius was so dramatic but James could tell underneath the disappointment he was fiercely proud of his best friend, and that was enough.
"Uh guys…what happens if you accidentally swallow a frog?" Peter asked uncertainly.
They all stared at him in disbelief before cracking up with laughter.
"You might get a little croaky Wormtail!!" Sirius said between chuckles.
"We thought we heard you…" Lily said as she and Emma entered the compartment.
"What's funny?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Peter…who else!?" Sirius said nonchalantly before embracing Lily. "I haven't seen my girl in days!"
Lily smiled and hugged him back. "Missed you…" she whispered before breaking apart and taking a seat. "So, how'd exams go?"
"Fifth in our year," Sirius said uncaringly.
"Wow love that's amazing!" Lily said incredulously. She could hardly recall him picking up a book.
"Whatever, we all know you were first…" Sirius said with a laugh.
Lily shrugged, "Nah, I was second. Remus, I expect you got first right? Oh by the way…when are we meant to go to the prefects compartment? I think McGonagall said she wanted the Heads to be there 15 minutes before the prefects got there."
"Lily…." Remus started to say.
"It's really exciting isn't it?? It's going to be so cool, we get to plan the big events, I love doing that stuff!!"
"Uh…Lily.." Peter said.
"You'll really have to do better at keeping up your fitness though Remus….you're always ill. Oh and Sirius, you can't encourage him to join in on pranks…I won't allow it" she teased, pinching her boyfriend's cheek.
"Well Lil…that's all well and good, but…' Sirius tried.
"I wonder what Lestrange will say, I bet he expected he was going to get it. But I think he's well dodgy, don't you guys?" Lily asked looking around and finally noticing they were all glaring at her. "What?"
"Well Evans, as much as it might surprise you, Remus isn't Head Boy…' James put in. He held the badge tightly in his hand, the sharp pin almost cutting him.
"Oh Remus, oh no!! What happened??" Lily said looking concerned.
"There are reasons…but listen…" Remus started.
"Wait, is it Diggory? I know it's not Lestrange….Emma did Amos tell you if he…"
"IT'S ME!" James yelled.
She looked at him unblinking. "Yes…Potter…I know, hello, it's you…now does anyone have any clue who…"
"It's him Lily. James is Head Boy" Sirius said quietly.
Lily looked at him and let out a laugh of disbelief. "No…no, Potter…is this true?" Lily asked looking at him with confusion.
He shrugged and pulled out the badge, which he showed her.
Her eyes widened and James couldn't help but feel hurt. He had expected this reaction, but had wished for a different one.
"Suppose you'll finally have to get used to being around me Evans…I'll see you guys at the Meeting. Later Wormy, Pad.." he then got up and headed outside, hesitantly pinning the badge to his front when he was out of sight.
"Is this a joke?" Lily said burying her head in her hands.
"I wish…' Sirius said glumly.
"I suggest you apologize Lily. He's already a little insecure about Dumbledore's choice." Remus looked concerned.
"Fine….but honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking? He's never been a prefect….he gets at least two detentions a week….he's, he's…"
"A marauder. Even Remus gets detentions Lily" Sirius said curtly coming to James' defense finally. "He's not gonna be awful. You just have to help him. He didn't ask for this!"
Lily stared at him not knowing what to say. She couldn't deal with Potter all alone. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of what was going to happen.
"Remus, who got the highest marks in the year?" Lily asked quietly.
"That would be our head boy. I got third" Remus said with a smile.
Lily walked into the compartment and saw McGonagall waiting impatiently.
"You're late Miss Evans" she said curtly even though it was only by a minute.
Lily was about to open her mouth to explain that James was even later when she saw him come out of the bathroom in the Prefect's compartment. He sat down and looked at McGonagall avoiding Lily's eyes. Lily sat down a foot away from him.
"Now, as you probably already know Miss Evans and as you might be surprised to know Mr Potter, you two as the Head students will need to conduct all Prefect meetings. You'll need to give out passwords and explain rules to any new prefects. Mr.Potter, you should familiarize yourself with this handbook as quickly as you can before they arrive in about ten minutes. Your other duties will be planning events, doing patrols and genuinely setting a good example for our school. Dumbledore will meet with you himself in a few days at Hogwarts. Good luck".
She then smiled a small smile before disapparating.
James looked down at the handbook with a sad face, which made Lily impatient.
"Potter!!" she warned, "You better start reading that manual so I don't need to conduct this meeting all by myself!"
James looked her in the eyes for the first time since he'd told her he was Head Boy and said, "No need Evans. I've read it all. My father was a Prefect and I read his handbook. Then I double checked it with Remus incase anything had been updated. And then, I made sure I knew it inside out and backwards. You aren't the only one taking this seriously, so why don't you back off and give me a break."
Lily stared at him stunned.
The prefects started filing in, whispers going between them seeing James Potter sitting very calmly at the front of the compartment. Remus gave him the thumbs-up and Emma gave him an encouraging smile as they sat in the front section. When the room quietened down, Lily began in a smooth voice,
"Hi everyone, I'm Lily Evans and I will be your Head Girl this year" she paused and looked at James who cocked a signature grin and pretended to tip his hat, "James Potter, Head Boy."
The room erupted into giggles and some gasps of disbelief. Lily smiled waiting for them to settle and determined not to show anyone how angry she was that James was her counterpart.
She opened her mouth to speak but James said something before words came out.
"Excuse me Lily, but before we begin, I'd just like to say something?"
Lily was startled at his politeness and just waved a hand for him to continue.
"I know a lot of you might be confused about why and how I'm here. If I'm being honest, I wasn't so sure myself. I know I've never been a Prefect and I imagine one or two of you may have caught me doing things I probably shouldn't have been doing after dark" he paused and everyone chuckled.
"But I trust Professor Dumbledore and if he thinks this is a good idea, I can't help but agree. I hope you'll all be patient with me and not resent the fact that it is a hard situation to understand. Besides, I've got Evans here to keep me in check, so I can ensure you…you don't have anything to worry about".
He then smiled genuinely, making eye contact with as many people as he could. Everyone grinned and nodded at him with the exception of a few sour Ravenclaws and some still very angry Slytherins. James noted these faces but quickly let his discomfort go. You couldn't win them all! He'd learnt that a long time ago.
Lily was speechless. He sounded so mature, so in control, yet he was still funny and charming and all of the things that made him the same James Potter. He turned to her and smiled, and she was slightly put off to see it seemed more distant than usual. She expected that his feelings were still probably hurt. Not wanting to dwell on it anymore, she cleared her throat and briskly began to go over the rules. To her surprise when she blanked on some info, James jumped in and helped her without interrupting or making her seem foolish. Honestly, the meeting couldn't have gone better. When everyone filed out, Lily smiled and talked to a few excited new prefects. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Remus patting James' shoulder. His back was to her so she couldn't see his expression, but Remus looked very proud. He too headed to the door and grinned at Lily. "I feel like my children are all grown up!!" He joked.
"Get out of here!" she said laughing.
And then it was just her and James.
He turned and his expression was once again unreadable. "Nice teamwork Evans" he said before heading to the door to go to their other compartment, a little angry he wouldn't be able to get away from her for a while.
"James….that went really well" Lily said suddenly and he turned to look into her eyes. She seemed genuine. "Honestly, you were better than I ever imagined…"
James' expression flopped into a silly grin. "Alright Evans….you're leaving me a huge opening with line…."
Lily blushed as she quickly thought over the words she'd said, "Oh Potter! You know what I meant…"
"Yeah, well. We should go back, Sirius is probably tearing his hair out to amuse himself."
"Well, we can't have that!" Lily gasped with mock horror.
Hogwarts stirred up more rumors than it ever had when Dumbledore announced the Head Boy during dinner. Some people had guessed James' family had bribed him while others thought Dumbledore had gone senile. Others noted James' born leadership and said it was a good choice. The biggest problem, Sirius found, were the rumors going around about their famous love triangle.
"Hi…" a gorgeous sixth year approached Sirius with a flirtatious smile. "Do you have any plans for the first Hogsmeade trip?"
Sirius stared at her blankly. "Well…despite the fact that I never plan my life more than a couple of minutes in advance, I imagine even though its in two weeks , I'll be going with my girlfriend, Lily Evans? Why? Do you have fun plans?" he cocked his head to the side, playing dumb but immediately making the girl feel stupid.
"Oh…I thought…she and James…never mind" she mumbled before hurrying away to her friends and whispering to them urgently.
"Gits" Sirius muttered under his breath as he led Remus and Peter to the Common Room.
"Fiddlesticks" Remus said tiredly and the portrait hole opened. The three went into the common room and sat down with Emma. Within moments, Lindsey was sitting with them.
"Have you seen James?" she asked Sirius.
Sirius pretended that he was thinking very deeply about his answer. "Let me see…I spent the summer with him, I sat with him on the train and in the carriages and at dinner…but no haven't seen him since."
Lindsey pulled a face and laughed. "Oh come on Sirius, can you just tell me where he is? I haven't seen him in months!" Her expression changed to a sad one and Remus took pity on her.
"He's at a meeting with Dumbledore for the Head Students"
"Oh…I was ever so surprised when I heard the news…you'd think he would've told his girlfriend that he got Headboy don't you!?"
Emma stifled a laugh. "You would think so…wouldn't you?"
Lindsey looked at her for a moment before saying, "You are very sarcastic aren't you Gray?"
Sirius burst out laughing. "Finally!! You've hit the nail on the head Linds…I always wondered what was different about her!!"
He, Emma and Peter laughed together while Remus hid his smile behind his hand.
Lindsey looked rather upset. "Well, tell him I'm looking for him won't you?"
"We'll try to remember" Peter said awkwardly.
Lindsey smiled vaguely at him before looking at Sirius again.
"Isn't Lily Head Girl, does it bother you they're going to spend so much time together?"
Sirius answered too quickly. "Not a bit.."
Lindsey laughed. "It will" she stated before walking away.
"Something seem different about her?" Remus noticed.
"She seems like she's grown up a little…" Emma said begrudgingly.
James and Lily were headed back from their meeting with Dumbledore, which was in essence only a pep talk. The only extra privilege the Head Student's received was a small office on the Seventh Floor they could use for any purpose they found it necessary for. They walked in silence toward Gryffindor Tower until finally James broke the comfort.
"Why are you so worried I'll fail so miserably at this Evans?"
Lily sighed. "I never said that Potter. I was merely surprised, you have no experience with being authority…it was a shock."
"An unpleasant one."
"Well, I suppose yes. Potter, look I know we have our moments, but have you ever noticed it's because we're both just trying to keep Sirius happy? We only really get along when we're apologizing to each other. I hate to say this, but we don't really have a friendship. Honestly, I was worried this would be really uncomfortable." She stopped walking and looked at him to say this.
"Why?"
"I don't know! Is it ridiculous to assume?" Lily said her voice increasing pitch and volume.
"Because you think I'm still in to you?" James accused standing closer to her. Her cheeks immediately flushed and she shook her head.
"No!!" she stated indignantly.
"But people have been telling you that haven't they?" James said huskily.
"Well, I suppose…"
"They're right."
Lily felt even more uncomfortable. Especially at how close he was standing.
"Why are you saying this? You have a girlfriend. I'm with Sirius!!"
"Because I don't lie all that often" he said before finishing softly, "And I think it's about time I got this conversation out of my system."
"Did you ever think about how Sirius might feel about this conversation we're having? You're so selfish Potter!"
He laughed, but it wasn't his usual, kind or mischievous laughter. It was bitter. "Oh don't give me that – I don't betray friends. Not on purpose. Me and Sirius – we're the same in a lot of ways. And, Sirius, he of all people would be able to appreciate the fact that it is probably impossible to get over you. "
Lily now laughed bitterly. "Oh that's funny. Strange, all my other boyfriends seemed to be getting along just fine…"
"Well…" James looked grim. "Tell Sirius if you must. You'll probably find he won't be very surprised. I haven't hid anything from him. Believe me, I'm not trying to steal you away especially if Sirius doesn't want you stolen…""
"And I'm just an object am I?!" Lily yelled angrily, walking straight to the portrait hole. "Selfish again Potter….ever think that its ME who doesn't want to be stolen. Ever wonder if it's even possible for you?"
"Even if I never do a thing about it, I'll wonder that every day.
Lily glared at him. "Just stop. Stop with this cutesy, romantic crap. I've heard it all before. At least he'll never lie and say he isn't! You may be best friends but you're worlds apart, especially in my world."
"Your world is skewed. And I'm not lying."
"I guess I'll never know because I'll never trust you…" she said making him cringe slightly.
"Fine" was all he could say.
"Fine!" she yelled back before storming in front of the portrait hole and saying the password.
"But there's just one thing you need to know Lily,"
She stopped and turned, looking at him, exasperated but expectantly.
"All these attempts to be mean, attempts at getting angry, hurting my feelings….they mean nothing to me. Because I know that's not who you are. And even if Sirius is dating you, even if he marries you, I'm sure that all three of us will know, deep down, that I won't just stop loving you. And if you trust anything I say… trust that."
"Don't throw the word love around so casually James. You don't even know what it means!" Lily hissed quietly through her teeth before briskly entering the common room, leaving James' heart pounding.
A/N: Ooh, it got a bit intense didn't it? I have been really good and updating frequently, so please review!!