It was a cold gray day; the wind was howling and swirling with fury, mingling with the rain that fell rapidly and feverishly onto the ground. Yes, this was the ride to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school so well hidden from Muggles, and yet, so cherished by all who walked throughout the halls for even the slightest second. Even if you were to hate everyone, or one person specifically, within those walls, you couldn't deny that the magic and wonderment captivated you instantly. Impossible as it may seem, there were some who hated Hogwarts, (although they were usually the ones to not attend – jealous they were dubbed,) and there were also some who hated a specific one everyone else seemed to have loved, and this person did reside in Hogwarts. And she went by the name of Lily Evans.
Lily Evans hated a Mr. James Potter with a burning passion; he was the only thing that stood in-between her and her complete enjoyment with Hogwarts. Everyday for the last 6 or so years of her life, he tortured her with his childish pranks and crude ways to catch her attention. Always the prankster, always the troublemaker, always catching girls' eyes...
'Almost always,' Lily Evans thought with a sense of her infamous Gryffindor pride as she stared out the window, watching the gloomy day unfold.
Lily Evans, a fiery red-haired beauty, with dazzling green eyes, was the one thing James Potter wanted. She was the one girl he vied for after all these years, (dating every other girl in the school in the meantime though it seemed,) and did not get. Sure, he had caught every other girl with ease. Yes, it did help that he was a handsome young man now at the age of 17, and the star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Yet, this was not enough for Lily Evans; everything that made the rest of the females in Hogwarts go gaga for him couldn't stir the same effect from Lily Evans, and oh, how that aggravated James so.
James pounded his fist upon the thick glass window of the Hogwarts Express, still concentrated in deep thought.
"What's up, mate?" Sirius asked, pausing from his game of Exploding Snap between Remus and him, (Peter was roaming the train for the food cart.)
"Why doesn't she like me?" James asked furiously, messing up his hair further out of aggravation.
"Who?" Sirius asked carelessly, focusing back on his Exploding Snap game, "McGonagall? She doesn't like any of us... mainly because she is an uptight pri-"
"No, you prat," Remus interjected, placing a card onto the organized pile of cards, watching it explode in Sirius' face with a smile, "he's talking about Lily."
Sirius laughed, regardless of the fact that his face was now as charcoal colored as his last name, "Why doesn't Evans like you? Is that a rhetorical question? You constantly prank her, insult her, and..."
"So!" James exclaimed stubbornly, ruffling his hair up some more. "Well, this year she'll have to like me," he muttered, "she can't avoid me this year..."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Sirius replied, "Just because you're Head Boy doesn't mean she'll stop hating you – in fact, it'll only give you more opportunities to fight... which reminds me, I should start selling those tickets... you think 3 Galleons a pop should do well, Remus?"
"Nah," Remus said, "you could at least get 5 with the way these two row."
Lily looked nervously at her watch, and fiddled with the ring on her ring finger, twirling it round and round, as her eyes darted about the train car. She was supposed to meet with the Head Boy, (whoever that was... she never found out,) and the other Prefects in 10 minutes.
And just at that moment, James Potter, alongside Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, burst into the car, disrupting Lily from her thought.
"Aha!" James proclaimed happily, "I've finally found you!"
"I wasn't aware I was lost," Lily replied uninterested, not even bothering to pull her attention away from the window.
"Lily dear, you're never lost – just misplaced, I'll always be able to find you in my heart."
'Wow,' her skepticism answered her, 'He's probably used that line on countless girls before me. What a git.'
Sirius, in the background stood wide-eyed and shocked, and quickly put his arm on Remus' shoulder – as if he was winded from running a long distance. "Did – Prongs – just – compliment – Evans?" Sirius asked between exaggerated heavy breaths.
"I believe he did," Remus said calmly, with a raised eyebrow.
"WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!" Sirius shrieked, and then fainted dramatically.
Remus rolled his eyes, kicking Sirius who was now twitching on the ground, and casually commented, "Anyone else up for kicking a man while he's down?"
Lily got up, turning to face James, finally drawing her vision away from the window, replying, "I wish it was Potter here, but I suppose Black will do... he is in my way, anyway."
"Hey!" Sirius cried, his eyes now snapping open, "No one kicks me while I'm down and gets away with it..."
"Oh really?" Lily and Remus replied in unison.
"What would you do to Lily?" Remus inquired, bemused, "Snog her to death...?"
"That's a thought," Sirius considered, but reconsidered after being the recipient of James' glare, "I mean... uh, I'd just let her get away with it because she is, after all, Prongs' girl..." he said, throwing a wink at James.
"Ugh!" Lily cried, kicking Sirius in the stomach, causing him to double up in pain, "I'm NOT Prongs' girl, or Lily dear," she said spitefully, glaring at James, "or any other name you can come up with... it's Evans to all of you." She concluded, walking over Sirius towards the other end of the train.
"Yeah," Sirius said bitterly, "I've got a name for her – it rhymes with witch, and starts with a B... any takers?"
Remus chuckled as he helped Sirius off the ground.
"You sure know how to pick 'em, Prongs, mate," Sirius replied, still clutching his stomach in pain.
"Yeah," James replied vaguely, watching Lily walk towards the other end of the train, "I've got to go."
"Psch," Sirius scoffed, "he acts as if he's important enough to blow off his friends like that – who does he think he is, Head Boy?"
Remus laughed and replied, "But Sirius, he is Head Boy."
"IT'S JUST A SAYING!!!" Sirius screamed indignantly, throwing up his arms in equal annoyance.
James quickly paced his way towards the opposite direction of the train where he saw a certain Lily Evans head in a desperate attempt to catch up to her, and actually get to the Heads' and Prefects' meeting on time in an attempt to impress her. Luckily, James found her quite easily seeing as she had slowed down her pace considerably since leaving the Marauders behind.
"Lily," James said straightforwardly, grabbing her arm, forcing her to turn around.
Lily turned around, irritated by James' presence, and snappishly replied: "What do you want, Potter?"
'To be with you,' his mind replied instantly.
"Just to go to the Head meeting with you seeing as we have to be there shortly," James replied in an attempt to seem laidback although his heart was bursting at the sight of her.
"We," she said, her voice not bothering to hide the tones of disgust as she spoke, removing his hand off her arm, "don't have to go anywhere together. Seeing as you most surely are not Head Boy."
James smirked and brandished the Head Boy patch that was previously hidden in his pocket, "On the contrary," he said, waving the patch in front of her skeptical and shocked eyes, "I'd like to think this patch says otherwise."
"Listen, Potter, I don't have time for your pranks," Lily said dismissively, "but there is no way you could be Head Boy and I really ought to be going to my meeting right now so I can speak to this year's Head Boy."
"Hmm," James hummed considerably, now leaning against the train car door, "there's two problems with that statement. One, this is, in no way, a counterfeit Head Boy patch – if they even make those – and I see no other way I could've gotten it..."
"You could've stolen it from the real Head Boy," Lily said accusingly.
"Two," James continued, ignoring Lily's comment, "you are currently speaking with the Head Boy."
Lily scowled, "Fine, come with me if you must, but either way, I'm going to find out who the real Head Boy is in a few minutes, and then perhaps, I can issue my first punishment," she concluded maliciously.
"And to whom would that punishment be dealt?" James challenged, his smirk still existent.
Lily rolled her eyes, "You are simply incorrigible," she muttered, beginning to walk away.
James grin widened, and he advanced on Lily, grabbing her and pressing her against the door, and whispered into her ear, "On my quest for receiving Lily Evans' love I will remain relentless, have no fear... I know I cannot wait until our Head duties begin together, perhaps then I can fulfill the duty to my heart," and leaned in to kiss her, being but an inch from her lips before he received a walloping smack that caused him to stagger backwards.
"James Potter," she breathed scathingly, "if you ever come so close to me again, I will assure you I will be much more violent than I have just displayed."
James watched her walk away in a huff, rubbing his red cheek furiously. "Heartbreaker," he muttered glumly, now beginning to walk towards the meeting again.
Why did he have to fall for her?
He sighed.
'This is going to be a long year,' he thought.
Lily left the Heads' and Prefects' meeting feeling oddly violated at being informed officially of the fact that James Potter was indeed Head Boy. Who in their right mind would make James Potter, of all people, Head Boy? Perhaps Dumbledore had had a bit too many butterbeers. That would explain it. Yes, that was definitely it – that had to be it.
Wait.
Lily stopped in the middle of her rampage through the train.
That was just plain foolish... Dumbledore drinking a bit too many butterbeers? Lily now laughed at the prospect. Honestly, how James got to her sometimes, all the time. Why did he always get on her last nerves and affect her so?
And what he did to her on the way to their Head meeting. Pushing her up against that train car door, whispering nonsense into her ear, and attempting to close the small gap that had existed between the two of them.... Lily shuddered.
Well, that was most certainly unnerving. She got chills just thinking about it.
Lily tried to shake these thoughts out of her head as she defiantly continued her way through the train, searching for Charlotte and Gwen, her two closest and best friends since she had come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had a feeling she'd need these two to really be by her side this year – especially with James breathing down her neck every chance he got, especially now that he was Head Boy, only giving him more chances to be with her.
She shuddered again as she had finally reached the cabin that Charlotte and Gwen were occupying, and slid open the train door, impulsively sighing and thinking, 'This is going to be a long year.'