Happy Saturday lovelies! I honestly didn't plan this, but I remembered that it was September 1st and the fates just aligned or something. So I just HAD to finish this chapter and post it today. I am so excited for a lot of things that happen this school year, and I hope you lot are as well x

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Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the storyline and any OC's belong to me.

Thursday, September 1st, 1977

Hogwarts Express

First Day of Term

It was an odd feeling being on the Hogwarts Express for the final time, especially after everything that had happened. It was a solemn, despondent affair; the Potter siblings had barely held themselves together when they said goodbye to only one parent that morning.

James had to physically pry Hermione off of their Father, and all three of the Potters hastily swiped the tears glittering on their cheeks as they parted with Charlus.

Dorea's loss was an open wound: every time it tried to scab over and heal, something ripped it open once more.

Draco, James and Hermione were all half out the window, sadly biding their Father farewell. The trio found the energy to smile—albeit a little dimly—and waved at him as the train's whistle blew and reverberated throughout the platform.

It wasn't too long before the train slowly came to life and departed from the station. Hermione tried to memorise every detail of Charlus's face—her eyes had inadvertently shifted—his strong jaw, his kind hazel eyes, his high cheekbones, and dark, full eyelashes that were dusted with tears.

The ride to Hogwarts was fairly uneventful: the five Marauders tried to get some rest as the sun slipped away into the darkness (their sixth member was mysteriously missing), and they shared a few lighthearted words and jokes here and there.

When they were about an hour and a half away from their destination, Hermione gently shook James's shoulder and roused him from his nap. He'd been peacefully lying across Sirius's lap, and he begrudgingly sat up, mouth partially open in a yawn that he half-heartedly tried to cover.

"You should get going, it wouldn't do for the Head Boy to be late for the Prefect's meeting," Hermione said as she languidly flipped through her September issue of Witch Weekly Magazine.

James nodded, clearing his throat before he spoke, "no, that wouldn't do, would it? Alright, come on, Moony…we wouldn't want to be late."

Remus smiled fondly at James, his long, sandy blond bangs brushing across his foreheads—Hermione threatened to cut his hair yesterday. The wizard ran his fingers backwards through his hair—causing some of it to stick up—and stood up, extending a hand to James; the boy in question was still rubbing sleep from his eyes as he accepted Remus's hand.

"Hopefully the meeting shouldn't take too long," James said, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for Remus to slide their compartment door open.

James placed his hands on Remus's shoulders as the werewolf paused in the doorway and looked both ways before exiting the compartment. They went right, and the sound of the door shutting behind them seemed amplified by the lack of sound in the aisle.

The pair walked all of five steps before Remus swore lowly under his breath and halted abruptly. James quirked a brow as Remus turned around—James's arms dropped to his sides—and sheepishly said, "I forgot my badge."

James frowned, "I would say you don't need it, but you're a senior prefect now…" James trailed off, and the corner of Remus's lips twitched upwards.

"I should go get it," Remus said.

"Alright, you want me to wait for you?" James asked, turning sideways so Remus could slip past him.

"No, you go on ahead!" Remus called over his shoulder as he headed back to their compartment.

James rubbed at the back of his neck and set off again, this time on his own.

A little ways into his journey, "hey! Watch out!" came from behind James, and he turned around just in time to spot three wizards hurtling towards him.

James flattened himself against the wall just in the nick of time, and watched as the three third years ran past him.

He only properly got a look at the one leading the charge and recognised him as the boy who had been mouthing off last year about how he was best mates with Sirius Black. One of the boy's fellow Ravenclaws asked Sirius about Gilderoy later that week, and with a raised eyebrow Sirius asked, "who?"

What was his name? Gilderoy Lockchain? Huh, that doesn't sound right, James mused.

Due to all the commotion, James hadn't realised that a redheaded witch had just opened her compartment door and had stepped out into the aisle.

Inhaling deeply James moved off of the wall, turned to his right and collided with the same said witch.

James gripped her upper arms to steady her, and an apology was on the tip of his tongue when he noticed who it was.

"Fuck, watch where you're going," Lily grumbled, and with an indignant stare her gaze rose to see who had crashed into her. Lily's expression melted into one of concern the moment she clocked that it was in fact one James Galieus Potter.

"James," Lily said softly.

"Sorry about that, Evans," James smiled awkwardly. At that exact moment they both became aware of their proximity to one another; James removed his hands—Lily's warmth lingering on his fingers—and took a step back.

There was a pause, Lily cleared her throat and said, "I'm really sorry about your Mum."

James's tiny smile flickered into an impassive shield. He wasn't sure if he was ready to hear condolences from the slow procession that would surely provide them the instant they walked through Hogwarts' doors.

Most of the wizarding world heard about the incident from the article in the Daily Prophet: most folk thought it was a Death Eater attack, but were quickly dissuaded of such a notion when the real story came out. It had been splayed everywhere, mainly because it had happened in the heart of Diagon Alley.

Two wizards were drunk off their arses, and guilt was eating away at one of them, so he confessed to his friend of fifteen odd years that he had been having an affair with his wife. Their argument rapidly took a turn for the worse and easily slid into vicious spells being hurled. Dorea Potter née Black had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was thus caught in the crossfire.

In terms of correspondence with their schoolmates, the Potter siblings had all remained deadly silent in the weeks after the incident. Lily owled Hermione twice a week, and she'd even sent Remus a couple owls, which is when she found out about Remus's Mother (Remus replied a couple times, but his letters had been concise and a little distant).

Lily shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, and James let out a small sigh before he bent slightly at the middle and met Lily's eye.

"Sorry…I—this summer was shite…" James paused as if figuring out how to lighten the situation. Lily reached out and unthinkingly brushed some of his hair off of his forehead.

James's eyebrows drew together, and softly he asked, "how have you been, Evans?"

They were close—inordinately so—and Lily's cheeks flushed pink. The slight sound of the train car rattling filled their ears and it was as if this moment had been built just for them. James got lost in the vibrant green forest trapped in Lily's eyes, and for the first time ever got a good look at the emerald shards that littered her irises.

Lily's lips parted to respond, but then just past James, she caught sight of a sandy blond haired boy that she had missed dearly.

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed, meeting James's eye once more before she stepped past him and threw herself into Remus's arms.

Remus chuckled softly, "hello, Lilypad."

Lily pulled away just enough to glare up at him, "not you too! You know that for the most the only people who use that nickname are Draco and Hermione."

"So what? Can't I use it too?" Remus asked with a crooked smile, patting the top of Lily's head. She shrugged out of his embrace and put a hand on her hip.

"I suppose," Lily sighed, waving her free hand noncommittally. She looked between the two boys and said, "alright. We'll have plenty of time to…talk and catch up later. Right now we have a meeting, a senior prefect and the Heads shouldn't be late."

Remus made a noise, and Lily turned towards him with a curious expression. "What?"

Remus shook his head, "I'm just surprised that you're taking James being Head Boy so well."

Lily's shoulder rose and fell, "honestly, at first I thought my letter was wrong when it mentioned who my co-Head would be…but I've had a couple weeks to get used to the idea."

Remus snorted, but didn't say anything further. The trio began to stroll towards the front of the train where the meeting was set to take place.

"I'm sure James will do just fine. I believe he'll do a decent job—as long as I keep him away from Sirius," Lily smiled gently at that, as she knew that Sirius Black and James Potter were inseparable entities (where one went, the other followed).

James smirked, "hear that, Moony? Evans here has faith in my capabilities. She believes in me."

"That's not exactly what she said, Prongs. You may need to clean your ears," Remus laughed.

"Nope, you heard her—" James threw his arm around Remus's shoulders, (Lily was following a couple steps behind them) and his smile grew as he repeated his previous statement, "—Evans believes in me."

James peered over his shoulder at the witch, and smiled cheekily at her. James was a touch surprised when pinked painted Lily's cheeks and she averted her eyes. Lily folded her arms over her chest, and some of her longer bangs fell forward into her face.

James had wanted to compliment her on how pretty her hair looked, but decided against it: the dark red locks had grown a few inches over the summer and were now just below her shoulders. Lily had pinned the right side back and away from her face, and James spotted the simple, white gold stud in her earlobe.

James swallowed thickly and chose to shift his attention back to Remus, "so, Moony…do you think Minnie has missed us?"

Remus replied with a sarcastic drawl, "I'm sure her life has been a barren wasteland in our absence, and our return will surely bring unrivalled joy back into her heart."

"My thoughts exactly," James grinned playfully. He purposefully ignored the rude noise Lily made.

A few minutes later, they finally reached their destination and James held the door open for his two companions. His thoughts were scrambled for a moment as the scent of honeysuckle drifting off of Lily swarmed his nostrils.

James took a second to compose himself and get his thoughts in order before he ducked into the large compartment.

The meeting went well, and there were a few familiar faces, and there were also some he didn't recognise at all—a couple of the fifth years that he had never seen before.

Alice had become the seventh year Gryffindor female prefect in Lily's place, and James already knew that she would do a good job.

There was talk of organising rosters and schedules: eventually things would need to be rearranged to accommodate for the Quidditch players when practice and the season began, and subsequently the sixth years would take on more shifts during examination time.

Lily announced that they would be given their schedules sometimes over the course of the first few days, and James tacked on that the fifth year prefects were in charge of leading the first years to their respective common rooms after the feast.

Marlene asked a few questions as she perched herself in Mary's lap, and Lily frowned as she tried her best to answer them—as if she hadn't even considered some of the finer details Marlene was inquiring about.

James did his best to avoid meeting Snape or Regulus's eyes. He sensed a change in both boy's magical signatures, but dutifully ignored it and told himself it was none of his business.

After the meeting concluded, the prefects all headed back to their respective compartments to prepare for their imminent arrival at Hogwarts.

Regulus's grey eyes were pumped full of sorrow as he slipped past James, and he felt a strange pull to the boy. The sudden need to reach out and ask him what was wrong overtook James, but by the time the thought fully formulated, the Slytherin was already what felt like a sea away.

James thought of Sirius, and wondered if he should ask his best mate if there was no chance of the two of them ever making amends and bridging their broken relationship.

James and Lily hung back for a few moments to agree that they would meet sometime later after the feast or during Breakfast tomorrow to work on all of the schedules.

Remus had gone on ahead with a tiny smile on his face, thus leaving the two alone.

James walked Lily back to her compartment in silence, and the two sheepishly bid each other farewell as they parted ways.

James's thoughts were a mess as he made his way back to the other Marauders; Lily Evans was impossible to figure out. Honeysuckle clung to him.

Wryly he thought to himself how a year ago, Lily's attitude toward him was frosty and she ignored his very existence, and now they were cordially discussing prefect schedules of all things.

If there was one thing James Potter knew, it was that life was unpredictable, and that anything could happen. With that firmly fixed in his mind—a dreamy smile had slipped onto his features without his knowledge—he continued on his journey back to his friends.