Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.

Chapter 18: A REAL Conversation!?!

Lily was in a considerably bad mood for the whole of the trip. It did not get any better when James Potter took a little visit to our compartment. He was already in his robes and grinned at us as he entered. Lily glared at him, while the rest of us tried to wave or smile with out being seen by Lily.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" she said, demandingly. He folded his arms and leaned against the door sill.

"Well, the Head Girl and Boy, have the very exciting duty of patrolling the train and compartments and I was sent to get the Head Girl, which is you, my dear, to patrol the train with me." He said coyly. Lily sighed and got up and walked briskly out the door, shooting a deathly glare at James as she passed him. James glanced at me and motioned for me to get up. I walked over to him.

"Do you think she might like me this year?" he whispered. I looked at him with a look saying I-DON'T-MEAN-TO-BE-RUDE-BUT… and he waved the question off.

"I'm getting her this year. I've changed. Seriously! Just give me a head start. How 'bout some advise?" he asked. I looked at him as if it was obvious.

"Oh, hmmm…how 'bout TALKING TO HER!" I exclaimed sarcastically. He motioned his hand frantically for me to be quiet.

"I know that. But I don't know how I'm going to do that if I can't get a word in edge wise and she won't answer me back anyways." He said. He was probably right.

"Well, try. Oh, and PLEASE… I'm begging you; call her by her first name. It'll make a huge impact. And, don't be so cocky. I know there's someone nice and generous somewhere in there." I said. He grimaced.

"Was I really that bad?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed him out the compartment.

"Go." And he took off down the aisle after Lily.

Lily was walking very fast trying to stay as far ahead of James as possible.

"Hey! Hey Lily, wait up!" came James from behind her. She stopped and turned. Then she mentally hit herself. 'Why did I stop? It's just James Potter. Well, he did call me by my first name…but he's still a bastard, so, well…to late now, here he is…' she argued to herself. James appeared beside her.

"Hey," he said quietly. She nodded and turned away as they walked down the aisle checking in compartments.

"How was your summer?" he asked. Lily glanced at him.

"Well, um…it was good. I went to the beach. My sister's getting married, so she wasn't there. Thank god. "She said.

"What? You don't like her?" he asked. Lily didn't know if she should answer. This was James Potter she was talking to and he was actually…talking words instead of pick up lines so Lily went along with it.

"I liked her, but when I got my letter, our 'sisterly' relationship with down-hill. My parents were so happy when I got my letter. My sister, Petunia, from then on considered me untouchable. Like, everything I touched would turn into rat or something. I was a… a freak to her, which I guess can be true and we haven't really had a REAL conversation for seven years." She explained. James soaked everything she said in. He never realized anything like this would be in her family life.

"I don't think you're a freak," he said. 'Good Lord! Did I just say that?!' he said to himself. Lily laughed one of those laughs James loved.

"Well, that's good to know." She sighed softly. "I guess…being Muggleborn doesn't help me much here either…especially with Voldemort killing all these people…" she said softly. 'Merlin! What am I doing pouring my heart out to James Potter? He doesn't care…Does he?'

"There are a lot of people who aren't bothered by Muggleborns, Lily. I mean, usually they are or were Slytherins who are." James said. He paused to check a compartment.

"I know that." Lily said, quickly. "I just get scared because, well, remember last year? That Ravenclaw? Casey Turner?"

James nodded.

"Her parents were killed and her parents were Muggles and…" her voice broke and she looked away. She didn't want James to see her upset. He WAS James Potter anyways. James's brow creased and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had never in his 7 years at Hogwarts seen this side of Lily Evans before and he ached for her even more. Lily exhaled and let out a faint smile as if apologizing.

"It's okay." He said softly. He wanted to say something else, but the train suddenly jerked to a stop. Lily rubbed her forehead in embarrassment. James looked at her and smiled.

"I guess I'll see you later." He said and started to walk away as students began to spill out.

"Wait!" Lily said and he stopped and turned to her. She stepped toward him through the crowds and creased her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why are you being so nice?"

James felt the impact of the question knock right into him.

"Is it a crime to be nice?" he said. Lily shrugged.

"No…but-"but James stopped her.

"Well, since we're both Head Boy and Head Girl and we'll be working together a lot, I guess I wanted to have a REAL conversation with you for once. Like that one." He said timidly. Lily nodded and smiled. 'This isn't soo bad. He has a point.'

"Well, I'll see you later Pott—James." She said and started to walk past him.

"Hey, Lily! We have a meeting after dinner with the Prefects!" he yelled after her.

"I know! I'll see you there!" she yelled back before running off. James watched her run into the crowd and went in search of Sirius, Remus and Peter feeling very light-headed.

I hurried through the crowd looking for the others who I had lost in all the people trying to get out.

"Hey Caroline!"

I turned to see Lily running up to me.

"Hey, was patrolling the halls super fun?" I teased. She laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It wasn't that bad." She said. I squinted my eyes her. She had a far away look in her eyes as if she was day dreaming about something very good. I was guessing her patrolling with James went pretty well and didn't ask her about it. I didn't want her to have second thoughts. We managed to find Kelsey, Cecily and Alice and quickly hurried to a carriage. Lily seemed very eager to get to Hogwarts. I pulled Kelsey aside before getting in and I told what I thought. She was very excited and actually managed to get the carriage to go faster (I have no idea how!).

"Do you have a Head Girl meeting thing after dinner?" Cecily asked Lily. Lily looked up, her emerald eyes glittering.

"Yeah. I'll have to get used to them. I hear there are lot of them," she said. Alice wrinkled her nose.

"Man, all with Potter. Sorry, Lil," Alice said laughing. Lily laughed.

"Yeah, poor me."

"C'mon Prongs!! Tell us!" Sirius exclaimed, shoved at James's shoulder.

"I already told you everything!" James said grinning. Sirius scoffed.

"Oh, yes. Here's the direct quote from James Potter: 'We actually had a real conversation.' Period. You failed to mention what you talked about!" James rolled his eyes.

"It was our conversation and part of that certain article-OUR does not involve you." James said. Sirius threw up his hands and gave up.

"Fine, you don't have to tell your best friend. Whatever." He said with a glint in his eye. There was a very long awkward silence as James looked out the carriage window. Sirius stared him down.

"What did you talk about?"

"MERLIN! SIRIUS!"

"Sorry!"

In the Great Hall, I never really listened to Dumbledore's announcements. I felt a tap on my arm and looked up at Alice.

"Hey," she whispered, she looked pretty happy. I leaned in to listen.

"I just heard Bertha Jorkins talking just now. Bellatrix didn't come back this year," she whispered. My face lit up.

"Do you have the choice to come back or not?"

Cecily shook her head.

"Last year, when she hit you with curse, she was planned to be expelled, remember? But her father refused to let that happen and forced the Ministry to let her finish the term. She couldn't go to Azkaban because she was a minor and apparently, this year, she didn't even get a letter."

"What do you think she's doing now that she's not at Hogwarts?"

Cecily shrugged and went back to eating.

My first thought is that she sided with Voldemort and became a Death Eater. That was pretty logical since it said in the fifth book Sirius hadn't seen Bellatrix since he was 16 or 17.

"Well, I'm glad she didn't come back." I said. Now, I could have my last year at Hogwarts in peace.

I sat through the sorting hat ceremony remarkably well without becoming too bored.

"I'm proud to announce our new Head Boy and Head Girl for the year 1978; James Potter and Lily Evans." Dumbledore said. He motioned for James and Lily to stand and the students clapped loudly. Lily smiled broadly before quickly sitting down.

"Remember you two and all prefects. There will be a meeting immediately after dinner in the Great Hall," he added.

"Oh, House Quidditch captions, please report to your Head of House your practice hours and all that as soon as possible. We wish the teams the best of luck in the upcoming season!" Dumbledore announced.

"Now, without further delay, let the feast begin!"

Food appeared on the empty trays before our eyes and the hall erupted into noise of laughing, talking and whispering. I hadn't bought anything on the train so I was quite starving and piled my plate with food. I was about to begin eating when Kelsey looked up behind me. I turned to look behind me.

"Hey Sirius," I exclaimed. He grinned

"Hey, I need to talk to you," he said. My eyes glazed nervously.

"What'd I do?"

He laughed.

"You didn't DO anything,"

I got up slowly, giving Kelsey an anxious look. She shrugged and I turned to Sirius. He pulled me aside a bit.

"Don't freak out, okay? Just listen to me." He said.

"Don't worry. I'm already freaked out," I said nervously. He rolled his eyes.

"If you haven't already guessed, James is the new Quidditch caption." He began.

"Cool! I knew he would be," I said. Sirius nodded.

"Okay, I threw this idea at James and he's really excited about it."

I waited for him to tell me this certain idea.

"Well, it was our other beater's seventh year last year, so we are deprived of a beater this year and James and I think…we want you to try out for the team."

I burst into laughter.

"Wow…you're…really funny!" I said, gaining my breath. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I wasn't kidding, Caroline! We really do want you to."

I stared at him as if he was mad.

"Are you insane?!? I don't know shit about Quidditch and oh yeah! I can't fly a broom!" I said.

"Oh, bull! You most certainly can fly a broom! Do you not remember our certain escapade at Hogsmeade in June? You're an amazing flyer! You were good even our first year at our broom flying classes. I never understood why you didn't try out for Quidditch when you were twelve!" he argued.

"And for your other pitiful excuse, James and I will help out when ever you don't get something. We happen to know a lot about Quidditch." He said. I gasped sarcastically.

"You do?! I had no idea!" I rolled my eyes.

"Will you just try out? Please?!" he asked, clearly frustrated. I sighed.

"Well, I DID play softball before I came to Hogwarts." I said.

"Softball?"

Oh, right. Sirius grew up in the wizarding world.

"Er…where you hit balls with a bat and run around bases?" I said.

"That's perfect!! That's almost exactly what beaters do!" he exclaimed. I shrugged and thought for a second.

"Sure. Why not, it'd be fun," I said. Sirius looked ecstatic.

"Excellent! James will tell you when you can try out. Trust me, you won't regret this," he said and hurried back to where he was sitting. I stood there for a second, stunned. Was I going to play Quidditch for the Gryffindor team? That depended if I was good enough. I wasn't good, was I? Oh, hell.

After dinner, Lily stayed behind for the meeting, not completely aware what she was supposed to do. When all the other students was completely gone except for her, James and new and returning prefects, Dumbledore moved the tables and set a smaller one for all of them to sit at. To James's delight, the Head Girl and Head Boy patrolled the halls after hours six times a week (except for Sundays) with help from the prefects. They had a meeting with Dumbledore once a week and if an event came up in the school schedule, it was their job to plan it. They planned 7th year graduation as well. Lily bit her lip as she scanned the parchment. She definitely underestimated the amount of responsibilities she thought she would have. James on the other hand was perfectly content with the jobs since the majority was working with Lily.

The meeting when on longer than Lily or James expected and it wasn't until after hours that the meeting was over. Dumbledore told them to go ahead and patrol whatever halls they walked through before going to bed. Lily went ahead and left, but James stayed behind to talk to Dumbledore.

"Professor?" James spoke up. Dumbledore looked up at James, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes, James? What can I do for you?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Certainly."

James paused for a second while Dumbledore waited.

"I-I just wanted to ask you…why you chose me to be Head Boy? I mean, I've had more detentions than half the people in this school," he said. Dumbledore beamed at him.

"James, you've always been more humble than you seem."

James gave him a smug smile.

"I decided you were best for the job because you are one of my most loyal, most brave, most giving, most responsible and most talented students despite your knack for causing trouble. I'm sure you were surprised your friend Remus Lupin didn't get the badge and you did, but James; Conduct is just one of the few traits that award someone a Head badge. Let's just say I let your troublesome ways slip a bit." he explained. James grinned and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you, sir." He said and hurried out of the Great Hall. The slid around the corner, just as someone came out of the shadows.

"Hey,"

James jumped out of his skin, his breath stopping. He whirled around to see Lily.

"Merlin, do you always sneak up on people like that?" he said, trying to regain his breath. Lily hid in a laugh.

"No,"

"Then what were you doing?" he asked.

"Well, I got freaked out walking the halls alone when it's so dark so I decided to wait for you," she said. He eyed her, arching one eyebrow.

"Wait for me?"

She shrugged.

"You were the only one around, I guess. All the prefects left at once," she said. He looked at her for a few seconds as if she had some sort of brain damage.

"Okay." He said blinking. They turned and started walking down the hall. They were silent for a few minutes until Lily got increasingly nervous.

"Hey, um…sorry about on the train, I didn't mean to break down or whatever like that." She said, breaking the silence. He grinned and shrugged.

"Hey, it's okay. I mean, you have a right to be scared." He said. She glanced at him, but turned away. She could not understand what had happened to him over the summer and ever since patrolling the train she couldn't help but be drawn to him.

"Uh, Alice told me Bellatrix didn't come back this year." She said, trying to make conversation. James looked up and raised his eyebrows.

"She just didn't come? Or was told not to come back?" he asked. Lily shrugged.

"That's what I don't get. I guess she just didn't come to the Hogwarts Express. Caroline's pretty happy."

James laughed.

"I'm sure she is. I'll have to tell Sirius, maybe he'll know where she went. Probably not though." He said. Lily knew Sirius didn't quite belong in the Black family line and his parents didn't care much either.

"Does he still live in his parent's house?" she asked. James laughed again.

"Hell, no! Beginning of last year, he comes to my house one night with his trunk, fuming. He told me he couldn't stand it and couldn't stay there anymore and he stayed at my house during the summers. His uncle left him a small fortune so he'll probably buy his own flat right out of Hogwarts this year." He said. Saying the new password, the Fat Lady swung open and the two of them entered into the common room. The fire was still lit and the common room was as warm as it always has been. Before going up to the dormitory, Lily turned to James.

"Something's changed about you, Potter." she said, her brow creased with thought. James could not keep his grin in.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…you just seem different." She said, still looking at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"I hope it's a good thing,"

She laughed.

"Yeah, it's good."

He gave her a lopsided smile.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess. Good night." He turned and hurried up to the guy's dormitory. She looked down quickly and smacked her head.

"Yeah, it's good?! He's going to think I'm like wanting to get in his pants or something! Stop it, Lily." She demanded and hurried up to her dormitory in embarrassment, not sure how she could LOOK at him tomorrow.