A huge thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far!

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I own nothing. Every character mentioned here came from the genius mind of JK Rowling and her wonderful series. :-)

Back in School

The next morning, I walked into the Great Hall with an extra skip in my step. I just couldn't contain myself. As I walked past a group of fifth year Hufflepuff girls I said good morning to them and I heard them break out in manic giggles behind me. Girls were really bizarre. I sat down next to Remus at the Gryffindor table and he gave me a questioning look upon looking up at me.

"You look disgustingly happy this morning Prongs. Is there something wrong?"

"No my dear Moony, nothing at all, just happy to be back at Hogwarts."

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Whatever you say…"

At that moment there was a big commotion at the Slytherin table and I knew exactly why. We, the Marauders, had officially pulled our first prank of the year during breakfast and soon most of the Slytherins were putting their hands to their faces trying to protect themselves from the pumpkin juice that was spraying out at them from their goblets as they tried to drink out of them. The other three houses laughed with glee as I saw Sirius walking towards Gryffindor table with a very satisfied look on his face.

"Morning fellow Marauders."

"Morning Padfoot," I said giving him a toothy grin.

Just then Professor McGonagall began passing out schedules for the term amidst loud groans from the entire Gryffindor table. I looked down at my own schedule and immediately grimaced; double potions first thing in the morning followed by History of Magic.

"Remind me again why I'm taking History of Magic this year?" Sirius asked looking at me with a look of disgust.

"Because you're too lazy to make up your own schedule so you enrolled in everything I'm in," I responded not looking up at him.

"And why are you taking it then? It's not like you're going to need it to get into Auror training."

Right as I was about to answer his question, the reason came walking straight towards me. Lily's long red hair was bouncing gracefully off her shoulders as she came closer, until finally she stopped right in front of me. I admit, the only reason I was taking History of Magic was because I knew that was one of her favorite subjects and I knew I could sit close to her in class.

"Hey Potter, we need to get together before we meet with Professor Dumbledore to discuss the first Hogsmeade trip. Can you meet me in the library after dinner?"

"Sure can do, friend," I said with a wink.

"Prat," she said as she rolled her eyes, and walked away. I could have sworn I saw her smile before she turned around!

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked with a mouth full of food.

"Just a friendly chat with my fellow Head Girl," I said taking a bite of toast.

"Very friendly I would say, and what's with the whole friend thing?" Remus asked before taking a long swig from his goblet.

"Well, we figured that since we're going to be working together, that we should make an effort to be friendlier towards each other so that we could set a good example for the other students," I said trying to contain the smile that was threatening to overtake me.

"So that's why you've been smiling all morning?" Peter chimed in as he nudged Sirius on the arm.

"That's why he and Lily were out in the corridor so long last night!" Remus teased sharing a laugh with the other Marauders. "Making the moves on her already are we?"

"So Prongs, you think you're finally going to get lucky with her this year?" Sirius interjected placing his arm over my shoulder.

"We're just getting friendly Padfoot. I think I'll leave it at that for the time being, at least she's willingly speaking to me now," I answered trying to get away from Sirius' grasp and getting my things together to go to class.

"Alright, who are you and what did you do to James Potter?" Sirius asked with a mock worried tone. "By now I figured you would have at least asked her out about three times and been turned down just as many. What exactly happened on the train yesterday? Did you get a little action you're not telling us about?" he asked and while Remus and Peter tried their hardest not to laugh.

"Very funny Padfoot, I'm doubling over with laughter as we speak," I responded sarcastically. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to class," I said before heading off and leaving behind a very raucous group of Marauders.

x

The first few days of classes went by without much incident. The first couple of nights at Hogwarts proved to be a bit difficult for me however due to the fact that I kept having bloody nightmares. Usually they involved a gargantuan army of black cloaked wizards led by Voldemort surrounding my parents before they were killed right in front of me. In my dreams, I was always forced to sit there and watch the Death Eaters torture my parents before ending their lives. Then after having to witness their murder, I had to walk back home only to see the Dark Mark hovering over our house. It was a terrible way to wake up each morning. By placing silencing charms around my dormitory, the rest of the house remained oblivious to my sleepless nights and countless nightmares in which I woke up screaming. Nobody could ever know I was having those dreams.

Sirius meanwhile, managed to get detention on the first week back because he got caught adding extra ingredients into Snape's cauldron during potions. His feat was accomplished with a bit of my assistance of course, as well as a well thought out plan by Remus, but only Sirius could have managed to get caught and still smile about it. The cauldron melted within seconds and immediately began burning the shoes off of anyone who came in contact with the spilled ingredients. How could I have ever thought of giving up pranking? Was I nuts?

Lily and I were also getting along surprisingly well up to that point. I had not showed off or hexed anyone in front of her and she seemed happy about it due to the fact that I was Head Boy and should have known better anyway. She only yelled at me once in the corridor when I tripped a 6th year Slytherin on purpose for bumping into me. All of the old nicknames she made up just for me resurfaced in that moment, but she surprised me later by apologizing. She said she had lost her temper and that it was wrong of her to yell at me in front of everyone because she was Head Girl and I was Head Boy. Lily actually apologized. Not that I wanted her to or needed her to, but it was really cool hearing it from her. In the seven years that we had known each other, she had never apologized and I had never apologized to her for acting the way I did around her. The way I figured it was that she only apologized because she saw that I was behaving myself for the most part that year. That one incident with the Slytherin was the first time she had to tell me off and I guess I sort of let her down by acting up again. Oh well, you live, you learn.

Quidditch practices were set to start during the third week of classes and I couldn't have been more excited. It was my last year at Hogwarts, and I was once more captain to a Gryffindor team that had all its players returning from the previous year. Having Quidditch practice of course meant that Lily and I would have to find new meeting times, something she wasn't too happy about, but that was necessary.

"Quidditch is so barbaric," she told me as she threw her bag on the floor one night after a meeting.

"What do you mean it's barbaric? Have you ever actually watched a match before?" I asked her cocking an eyebrow.

"Well of course I have, the entire school goes out and watches them," she responded looking down at the floor.

"Just because everyone shows up to the match doesn't mean everyone watches. You've never actually seen us play before have you? If I remember correctly, you always take a book with you to the stands," I said with a large smile forming on my face.

She smiled at the ground for a moment and I knew she was going to try and deny the whole thing. When she looked up at me and saw the way I was looking at her she rolled her eyes and her smile broadened. "Okay, fine. I'll admit it; I've never actually seen the team play. It's just so nerve wracking and I can't bare to watch you guys try and knock your heads off with those stupid balls," she said in a frustrated tone.

"You're worried about one of us getting our heads knocked off?" I teased.

"Of course I'm worried! I don't like seeing anyone hurt like that, it's just so….so….. barbaric!"

"Calm down, it's not as bad as you think it is. Quidditch is really fun. You're free to do whatever you want up there when you're flying; it's like you're leaving all your worries behind. Besides, getting hurt is part of playing Quidditch. It makes it that much tougher to play," I said getting closer to her. "It makes it that much more of a challenge," I finished looking down at her with a smirk.

"You didn't look like you were enjoying yourself that much in fourth year when you fell a hundred feet to the ground and had to spend an entire week in the hospital wing," she said looking up at me.

"You remember that? I thought you hated me, why would you remember something like that?" I asked, confused.

"I didn't hate you. I just couldn't stand being near you, and as much as you annoyed me even you didn't deserve to get hurt like that," she said in a softer voice.

Did she just say what I think she said? She actually sounded worried!

"Wow, I never knew you felt that way. Maybe I should fall off my broom more often!" I said not hiding my laughter.

"Don't say that. It was really terrifying. It was as if you were falling down in slow motion," she said stepping away from me. "You should have heard the awful sound you made when you hit the ground. It was as if every bone in your body had shattered," she said with a worried tone.

I looked at her just then not laughing anymore. I couldn't believe what she was saying to me. All these years I thought she hated me and wanted nothing more than to forget I was alive, when in fact she did notice me. I felt as if I was in a different place when she broke my thoughts with the change in subject.

"Well if you can't meet with me after dinner because of your barbaric practices we're just going to have to meet later at night. It's lucky we're both in the same house because then we can just meet in the common room," she said packing up her school things.

"Oh, um, yeah I guess you're right," I said doing the same.

We walked towards Gryffindor tower in silence. This was not what I expected the year to be like when it started. Not only was Lily talking to me, but she didn't seem to mind being in my company. This was insane! It was impossible for me to not look at her as we walked. She radiated a type of energy I couldn't understand and I just couldn't believe my luck with her. I heard her say the password to the Fat Lady and when we walked through the portrait hole, she turned around and looked at me.

"You know Potter, I'm really glad we're finally friends. So far you've turned out to be the complete opposite of who I thought you were and I've really enjoyed your company lately."

What!

"Erm, yeah, me too. I mean, it's better than having you make a fool out of me all the time," I said feeling awkward as I ran my hand through my hair.

"Yeah, well you deserved it," she said smiling up at me. Just then she leaned in close to me and did what I could have only imagined in my dreams. She stood only inches away from me and put her soft hand on my cheek and said, "Good night James," before walking up to her dormitory. I watched her walk away with a strange feeling at the pit of my stomach. Lily Evans had just touched my cheek. As I saw her disappear up the stairs I put my hand to the spot where she had touched me. Sure, it was just her hand on my cheek, but it was more than I could have ever asked for. To think that at the beginning of the year she would have given anything to get away from me. I couldn't believe it. I felt like I was floating on air as I walked into my Head Boy dormitory. I didn't even undress before throwing myself on the bed and looking up at the ceiling. I don't know how long I remained that way, but I wouldn't have traded that feeling with anything in the world.

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