"Remus my boy!" Sirius said as Remus Lupin entered the Potter home "Damn good to see you!"
"You too Sirius," he turned to Mr and Mrs Potter, "And thank you all for letting me stay here, it was very kind of you"
"You are always welcome here Remus" Mrs Potter said with a smile, "Now when is that Pettigrew boy supposed to be here?"
"Anytime now," replied James "Until then though, Sirius Remus and I are going up to my room"
"So Prongs" began Remus, "Padfoot tells me you all saw Lily Evans at Three Broomsticks... and she said 5 whole words with out insulting you, good job mate you made me proud!"
"Shut up Moony, it was 4 words and she's talking to me and that is all I require" James replied with a knowing smile,
"Oy Moony thats right, Prongs over here plans to marry our friend Lily" Both Sirius and Remus erupted in laughter as a stout boy walked into the room.
"Wormtail! Where have you been, you only said a few words on that owl we sent!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Its been busy, my parents are fighting again and it seems as though they weren't entirely impressed with my grades from last year and insisted upon helping me with my homework" The boys looked to each other, none of them had feuding parents, Sirius had parents that he despised but they never fought openly in front of him or his brother.
The rest of the evening consisted of teasing each other about what was to come of the following year, and even a decision of pranks that would be played, when and where. It seems as though the boys were in another dimension away from all the cruelty and horrible things in the world, they didnt worry about school, all that mattered was the fun they were to have.
They awoke early the next morning slowly putting on their robes. James poked himself multiple times with his Head Boy pin, until Remus finally adjusted it. They had all been surprised and eager to tease James of his new position, it did however give them a great sense of Pride in their Marauders, they were the best and the brightest and the election of James had proved that.
Lily arrived to the train station twenty minutes early and proceeded to Platform 9 ¾ and arrived on the Train before any of the Prefects, she sat in the prefect's cart trying to put together a presentation on what would be said.
She was not at all surprised when she received her letter and found out James was Head Boy, however the shock of her being Head Girl had taken some getting used to. It was to be a long train ride followed by an even longer year, she expected minimal help from James assuming he would be to busy with his friends to remember to come to the cart, she had prepared to give the whole presentation alone.
The Prefect's slowly stumbled in, about 5 minutes before the train pulled out, in walked James. He had a look on his face Lily did not recognize, it was something of intimidation, then he tosseled his hair. She brushed it aside and called him over.
"I have here what we are to go over in the meeting," she said, thumbing through the "few words" they were to say, James looked at her and smiled.
"What?" she asked slightly annoyed,
"You just seemed so overly prepared, I figured we would just tell them to help with the first years and explain to the new guys their general boundaries. I didnt realize we had to do all this"
"Well James you are free to Just "wing it", I just thought we could use a little bit of order"
"Your right we could, I just thought that we might do highlights, make it shorter, keep everyones attention while we have it" He tried to act as nonchalant as possible,
"Okay" she finally said, with a twinge of annoyance and a little bit more of surprise.
They led the meeting without a glitch and the Prefect's were able to get out of the cart fairly quickly.
"Don't forget the meeting to see Dumbledore after the feast" James reminded her,
"It is not in my nature to forget James, I remember EVERYTHING" to his surprise she looked at him not in disgust but almost like she was teasing him.
Lily went off to find Hannah, praying that Hannah hadn't been to bored, Lord knows the girls they hang out with are shallow enough. It was to be an exciting year, full of things unexpected, and starting the year out with a 20 minute speech by James Potter, did not seem like the best way to start it.
James went off to find his marauders, who were no doubt making trouble wherever they were. He found their compartment quickly considering it was the only one that sounded as though the door was about to break down.
"Oy! What in the bloody hell are you doing?' James asked looking down on the floor to see Sirius wrestling Peter and Remus had a wand out on the verge of hexing either one of them.
Sirius was the first to stand up, "Peter thought it would be funny to put a chocolate frog in my pocket and not tell me.." James looked at him curiously "THAT WAS AN HOUR AGO AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE IVE TAKEN A DUMP IN MY PANTS" he stood up and showed James who began to laugh hysterically at the situation.
The next few hours of the train ride passed by slowly and the boys couldn't help but realize this was to be their last trip on the Hogwarts Express together. Remembering their first time on the Hogwarts Express
"I remember getting on the train and going into an empty compartment trying to escape my damn cousin and all of her stupid little friends," Sirius said looking at James
"I came in here because, well I didn't know anyone, my parents were too old to have any friends with kids my age" James added,
"I of course knew no one, and I came in and saw you two talking, and there was room so," Remus nodded
"And you guys picked me up after those damned Slytherins tried to hex me" Peter whimpered.
They were all very different, yet somehow for Seven years that become best friends, no one could deny that James and Sirius were the closest of the bunch, but there was an unrealistic bond between all of them, unsurpassed loyalty. If there was anything to be jealous of the Marauders for, that was it.
They left the Hogwarts express and loaded onto the carriages which were heading up towards the school.
The feast went on as it always had, Dumbledore gave a loopy speech which made them all appreciate his sense of humor, and the Sorting house sorted all of the First years into their respective houses. James and Lily made their way up to the staff table to meet with Dumbledore so they could be introduced to the rest of the school.
"Ah, yes, furthermore, I would like to introduce you to your new Head Boy and Girl, Mr James Potter, and Lily Evans," James looked out to the crowd smiling, and tosseled his hair, Lily was simply beaming and almost every table burst into applause except for the Slytherin table which exchanged disgusted glares.
At the end of the feast, James left his friends, and set out to find Lily, and if he had any luck at all they would be able to walk to Dumbledore's office together.
"Lily! Hey, Evans!" she turned around and with a small smile rolled her eyes and continued walking,
"Bugger," James mumbled now running to catch up with her,
"You know Lily you really do not make it easy on a guy" he panted
"Just a hint Potter, when a girl blatantly ignores you... you MIGHT want to take the hint" she smiled and continued walking a little bit a head of him.
"Is that a smile I see Miss Evans, because you know smiling only makes the heart grow fonder" she rolled her eyes and continued to walk a little faster than he was.
"Razzles" Lily spoke clearly to the phoenix, it at once began to open and she and James quickly approached the door,
"Come in," they heard the headmaster say, "I trust you had no trouble finding the place?"
Lily and James smiled and took a seat,
"I cannot impress upon you the importance of leadership this year will require, it is no surprise to you I am sure that you have noticed the Daily Prophet lately" they both looked to the ground unsure of what to say, "Lord Voldemort is gaining support, and powers and I need you two to help unify this school, people will be dying and losing relatives outside of Hogwarts but it is important that I impress upon you the importance of unification now, even with the Slytherins" Dumbledore added looking specifically at James
"But sir, isnt the ministry of magic any closer to catching him than before," Lily asked.
"My dear girl I wish I could say yes, but unfortunately Voldemort is a very powerful wizard, among the most powerful of this century I am sure"
They both gave a silent nod and left his office, they were no longer being very flirty, to Lily's surprise though, James looked almost scared,
"Whats with you" she blurted
"Nothing you would care to know" he said now walking a few steps in front of her,
"Maybe I would if you would just tell me" he stopped and turned to her
"No," he said quietly and then continued to walk, they walked in silence until they arrived at the dormitory where James held the portrait hole open.