Chapter Four
Blue and Yellow

James thought of that night as he walked towards the compartment that he was meeting Lily in. He slid the door open quietly.

"Hello head boy."

"Hello head girl." James replied, grinning as he saw Lily's nervous face looking up at him.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Merlin, I missed you." He bent down, gave her a kiss, and sat down beside her. She leant against him and closed her eyes, letting his soothing aura take over her.

She smiled as she listened to his excited words as he told her of his summer. "You probably noticed I didn't reply to your first few letters for ages. I'm sorry but I couldn't get away from Sirius for long enough. He kept wanting to go into town and scare muggles. He used to live in London, completely surrounded by muggles, but never really went out, didn't really have enough freedom to. So at my house he always wanted to go out. I suppose my parents talking in really loud voices about how respected his parents are didn't help. I told you he moved out right? To some little flat, pretty crappy but it'll do for the time being and he'll do it up after school finishes. It was good to get rid of him, but kind of boring. I even did all my school work. Oh, and did I tell you about my parents getting the letter about being head boy? Completely made up for me getting sorted into Gryffindor. My father was a Slytherin you know, not evil, just a Slytherin. Never Head boy though, not even a prefect. I suppose I wasn't a prefect either, but being with you has straightened me up a whole lot, although I don't like to admit it."

Lily giggled. Normally James was one of the coolest guys in school. He was very laid back and informal, but when he was around Lily, he didn't shut up. He was nervous and jumpy and excited, completely out of character. He had told Lily that it was because he cared about her and there wasn't a lot he cared about.

Lily, on the other hand, was usually stressed. Around the time of exams, her friends and peers were often scared to go near her in case she would explode, but around James she felt so relaxed and peaceful. She was content to be sitting beside him, listening to words pour out of him. She wondered vaguely what would happen if he ever ran out of things to say.

"What's so funny?" James asked in response to Lily's giggles.

"Nothing. I just missed this. I missed you."

James shifted in his seat so he could kiss Lily. After a few minutes she pulled away. "Maybe we should make up for lost time?" She said with a suggestive grin.

"On the train?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It is our last year and it is kind of exciting."

James grinned as he ran out of things to say

The feast that night was fabulous. Lily and James sat opposite each other, occasionally meeting each others gazes and then quickly looking away.

As the feast was nearing an end, Lily and James and the Gryffindor prefects made their way into the entrance hall to meet with their head of house. To their surprise, grumpy old Professor Kressley was not there. Instead Professor McGonagall was standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Good evening Minerva." James said as he approached her.

"You're so immature Potter. Please try to act more like head boy." Lily said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Well I'm not too sure how to. Maybe you should teach me. Say….Friday night? Do you like Italian?"

Professor McGonagall coughed, disrupting the two. "If you are quite finished Mr Potter, perhaps you will listen to me."

"Sorry Minerva." James said with a grin, Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you were all expecting Professor Kressley to be here tonight, but he has decided to retire and I am taking up his position."

"It's always fun to try new positions." James said. Lily elbowed him and Professor McGonagall ignored him.

"The password to the common room is wolfsbane, the password to the prefects bathroom is Hecate. There will be a prefects meeting at seven tomorrow morning in the chamber behind the teachers table. You can all go back to the feast except for you Mr Potter."

"Is this about the positions? Because if it is I don't feel entirely comfortable discussing it with you, although I'm quite willing to give you a demonstration."

"Mr Potter, I know you think you're quite funny but…"

"Minerva," James cut her off "I would feel more comfortable if you called me James."

"Okay James."

"And I know what this is about. To be quite honest, I like you. You're a good teacher and I have a lot of respect for you. Unfortunately I cannot change my behaviour. In the eyes of other teachers that would be seen as a weakness." He hugged a confused Professor McGonagall. "Good having this little chat with you. I trust that it will stay between the two of us?"

Professor McGonagall shook her head in disbelief as James skipped away into the Great Hall. It was going to be a long year.