"Mum! Mum! Mum!" Yelled a seven-year old boy from the back seat of a Minivan passing through London. He stared slack jawed pointing out the window.
"John! John! John! See how annoying that is?" Said his mother, not even looking over her shoulder at her son. They had been stuck in traffic trying to get to Kings Cross for a half hour now and she had had about enough of her son's random spottings out the window.
"But MUM!" said John insistently pointing out the window. "That Motorbike…"
"Is red? Is that it Johnny? Is it another red motorcycle?" The mom rolled her eyes. "Just be quite John. We're almost there. I'd like to have some peace before we pick up your grandmother." She sighed deeply and said under her breathe, "Would have been nice of your father to pick up his own mother but noooo, he wants me to have a bit of bonding time with her while sitting up to my ears in traffic."
Johnny looked out the window once more. "But…"
"Enough!" She said cutting him off.
Johnny sat silently watching the red motorbike pass through traffic, not weaving between cars but flying over them.
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"Muggles don't notice nothing do they?" said Sirius removing his black helmet and flipping his hair out of his eyes. A few passing girls looked over interestedly. He gave them a quick smile.
James removed his own red helmet. "Guess not. Most don't look up much while stuck in traffic though. We really should look into getting that secrecy button fixed on there."
"What'd be the fun in that?" Said Sirius pushing his bike between cars. James turned to face the street and gave a quick nod. Sirius, with a quick flick, soundlessly shrank his bike. Picking it up, he slipped it into his pocket. "Don't tell me you're going soft on me?"
James elbowed him in the ribs as they moved towards the entrance of the station. "Would I ever?"
"I don't know," said Sirius. "A certain red-head may be able to whip you onto the straight and narrow." James pushed him hard causing Sirius to have to do some fancy footwork to avoid running to an older woman pushing a large cart. "Hey!" he said getting back in step with James. "Don't get violent just because it's true. Plus that piece of metal you get to pin to your robes won't help your pranking either."
James patted his pocket for what felt like the 20th time that morning to ensure he had not lost his head boy badge. "As if a title can stop a marauder. Never stopped Remus!"
"But Remus was never infatuated with his fellow red headed prefect," said Sirius teasingly.
"Just admit it Sirius, you think Lily's brilliant," said James, turning to follow the signs for platforms 9 through 14.
"She's not a bad chic yeah. And she's not bad on the eyes either but in no way, shape, or form am I as whipped as you by her."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked James confusedly.
"Means you'd do anything for her mate? She can ask for anything and you'd do it? This whole summer you've been running all over London to make her happy- visiting her at work, getting her an internship, going to the funeral."
"I wanted to do all that."
"Yeah," said Sirius, "because she's Lily."
"And?" asked James, lining up with the barrier.
"You change for her. You're… I don't even believe I'm saying it, a gentleman for her, a straightedge guy! I mean think about it. Would you have done all that for Joyce Bulstrode?"
James pulled a face. "Ew no! She's a cow!"
"Lily could make you jump off a bridge if she wanted you to."
James smiled. "I always did want to try bungee jumping." And with that he ran for the barrier.
"That's not what I meant!" Called Sirius after him, also running at the wall full speed.
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Dropping her trunk into the heads compartment, Lily moved back onto the platform. She passed through the barrier separating platform 9 and 3/4 from the rest of the station and faced her mother. Both women looked different: thinner and older.
"So this is it mum!" said Lily..
"Your last year at school. I remember the first time you ran at that wall."
"I'd felt like such an idiot. Dad had…" Lily stopped her sentence.
Her mother smiled sadly. "He said that you couldn't do anything half way. You had to enter this new world with both feet and maybe a bruise or two if that wall was really a wall."
Lily nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. She stepped forward and let her mother envelope her in her arms.
"He was always so proud of you dear," said Mrs. Evans pulling her daughter away from her and looking into her face. "Please don't make yourself miserable."
Lily stood silently for a moment before lifting her hand, her pinky sticking out. "I'll promise if you do." Quietly they linked pinkies and kissed their thumbs, an old tradition between the women.
"You better get on the train. Wouldn't want your trunk going to school without you."
Lily hugged her mother once more. "I'll write as much as I can."
"You better," said Mrs. Evans releasing her daughter.
As Lily made her way to the barrier, Lily took one last look over her shoulder. Smiling softly at her mum, she walked through.
As the crowd milled around her, all of them completely oblivious to her daughter disappearing through a brick wall, Mrs. Evans looked up to the ceiling and whispered, "She'll make us proud Robert, just like she always has. She will make the whole world proud."
With that she headed towards the exit, passing a harried looking woman dragging a young boy.
As another wizard passed through the wall, the boy tried to point this out to his mother.
"A wall? Are you pointing at walls now Johnny? My god!" cried the mother in exasperation.
A few minutes later, Johnny was walking hand in hand with his Grandmother.
"Gran?" he asked her, his mother a few paces forward, pushing through the crowd forcefully. "Can I have an owl for my birthday? Like the people I saw walking through the wall between platform 9 and 10?"
His grandmother laughed softly to herself. "How old are you now John dear?"
"Seven and a half!" said Johnny excitedly.
"Well maybe in 3 and a half years then."
"Why do I have to wait?" whined Johnny.
His grandmother smiled widely. "Because my boy, I would rather not be the one to tell your mother. We'll let ol' Dumbledore deal with her. Come on, let's get into this stupid traffic. Personally, I cannot wait until you get your letter."
"What letter?"
"You'll see. Would hate to ruin the surprise!"
With that, the family bustled out into the parking lot just as the clock struck 11 and the Hogwarts expressed pulled out of the station blowing black smoke spirals into the air.
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The door to the heads compartment opened with a slight squeak. "I thought it'd be Remus," said Lily not looking up from her book.
"How'd you know it wasn't?" Ask James closing the door.
Lily closed her book and looked up with a smile, "Remus always beat me to the prefects compartment." James smiled back. "You, however, were not who I was expecting."
James quirked an eyebrow, "And who were you expecting? Snape?"
Lily looked at him suspiciously. "Would that matter?"
"Not particularly," James said quietly. He turned away to face the window and pulled a face. "But am I right?"
Pretending not to see his face reflected in the window, Lily shrugged. "I was expecting anyone with a prefect background really."
James smiled a bit to himself. "Yeah, I don't fit that category do I?"
"Not really no," Lily said pulling papers to her. "But I really shouldn't have been surprised though. You're the top boy in our grade and that's a big part of that decision. McGonagall loves you for your talent on a broom. Dumbledore adores you for your mischief, god knows why."
"Not to mention my dashing good looks," said James turning from the window to face her with a beaming smile.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I really have to stop saying nice things about you to yourself. It goes straight to your head."
"Lucky they make those high tech brooms that can support my egos weight huh?" James asked her cheekily.
"Very. Hopefully you have some room in that head of yours for this information." She held over a stack of papers. "Since you need to be able to tell the prefects what they're supposed to do and you've never had to do prefect duties yourself, I figured it'd be a good idea to have you skim the handbook before we meet with them. It's basic stuff really."
Taking the seat beside her, James looked over the papers for a few minutes as Lily dove back into her book.
"How've you…" James started.
"We meet the prefects in 5 minutes James, I suggest you keep your eyes on your papers."
"I still can't get over the fact that you call me James now."
Lily looked up from her book and gave him a solid glare. "Would it help if I started calling you potter again?"
James sighed. "I think I'll be fine with this. I've read everything but the Hogwarts rulebook which I've already read already."
"You have?" Asked Lily extremely surprised.
"Yeah," he said smiling. "Sirius and I read it front to back in first year and starting making a list of ideas on how to break them."
Lily resisted the urge to laugh. "Please tell me you guys exhausted those ideas."
"The ones from first year? Yeah!" Lily sighed in relief. "We're almost done with version 2.0 we made in 5th year." Lily smacked her forehead.
"James really…."
"Relax!" He rubbed her back gently. "Remus may not have been able to keep the marauders under control but I'll make sure we don't cross any big lines."
"But you're not promising to behave?" asked Lily looking exhausted.
James laughed. "Could I ever?"
Lily stood up and smoothed out her dress. "Well, for better or for complete chaos, let's get this started." And with that Lily led the way into the prefects' compartment, James close at her heels.
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"Was it just me or did they seem to be getting along?" Asked Jen Atkinson after leaving the prefect meeting
"Not just you." Mark answered. The two Ravenclaw 6th years walked slowly down the corridor hallway, peering through compartment windows. "Has the world ended?"
Jen looked out a window into the sky. "The sky isn't made of fire and there's no flying pigs."
Mark laughed. "This is just too weird."
"Do you think they planned it?" Mark looked confusedly at Jen. "You know, like they planned before they came into the room what to say, how to act, so as to seem like a strong head pairing."
Mark thought for a moment. "Sounds more plausible than those two actually getting along."
With that, Jen opened a compartment door and checked in on a group of 2nd years playing exploding snap.
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"Any ideas for the Prefect Bathroom password?" Lily asked James, looking over the long list of things to do before arriving at Hogwarts.
"Um… how about… Lil. To be honest, I'm fresh out of ideas. Bibbity Bobbity just about drained me of my last piece of password creativity. How about a quick break?"
"But James, look how much more work we have to do!" Lily lifted more than half the pile.
James sighed. "Let me just go tell the boys not to expect me. I'll just meet up with them at the great hall."
"Ok," Lily said. "Mind swinging by my girl's compartment and telling them the same. I warned them through letter but they may not have believed it from me." Lily turned back to the papers.
"Don't you want to take a break and tell them yourself?" He asked.
Lily shook her head. "We'll never finish this by the time we get to school if I don't rush through section F while you're away. It's train prefect meeting report and rounds analysis. We should have the 5th year prefects back in 15 minutes with reports so I need to have section 1 and 2 of that section…."
"I get it!" James said looking at her wide eyed. "Slave on madam masochist." He bowed to her earning a laugh. He looked up at her smiling. She smiled back. "That's more like it. There's the smile I adore."
"Go tell our friends that we're up to ears in paperwork. Be back by the time the 5th years get here or I may have to write a co-head complain report and I really don't have the time to fill out anymore paperwork today."
James nodded and left with a grin on his face. "Always a work-a-holic that one." He said quietly to himself.
He walked down the hall and peered through the windows looking for the familiar brown bob cut and blonde locks of Lily's friends. Five cars down, he found them.
Knocking swiftly, he slid the door open. "Hello ladies."
"Hey Potter," said Hera kindly. "Looking for Lily?"
"Just delivering a message from her actually. She said she'll meet you up in the great hall. Swamped with head paperwork."
"She did warn us about that," said Maggie. "Isn't Remus helping her out?"
James laughed. "I expect he's currently napping in the marauder compartment. He never could stay awake on the train trips."
"He's not Head Boy?" Maggie asked confusedly.
James patted his pocket realizing he had never pinned his badge to his robes. Pulling it out, he pinned it next to his quidditch captain in.
"No way," said Hera bluntly. "I mean, not that you're not clever and all but really, don't you hold the record for most trophies polished in detention?"
"Actually, Sirius has that honor," James admitted, only a little bitter about the loss. "I however have pickled the most flobberworms. Despite that fact, I somehow still got the position."
"And Lily hasn't killed you yet?" Hera asked still looking shocked.
James raised an eyebrow. "As much as I would enjoy explaining my qualifications to you girls, Lily will kill me if I don't get back to the head cabin in 10 and I still need to tell the boys to meet me in the great hall. So with the greatest respect, I bid you ladies adieu."
Leaving the girls still in a state of slight shock, James bowed out of the compartment. He headed toward the car farthest from the head car, the consistent marauder car. It was wise for them to locate themselves there since it was less likely for the badge wearers to hear the odd blasts and bangs.
Peaking his head in, James was brief. "Meet you at the feast. Paperwork to the ears. Must run. Lily may kill if I'm late."
As the door closed behind him, Sirius turned to Peter and Remus. "See what I mean? Whipped. Didn't even give us time to tell him about the feast prank plan."
"It was his idea in the first place," Remus said returning to his prophet.
The door swung open again to reveal James. "And can you pull a tiny prank on Maggie and Hera? They were a little too disbelieving of my head boy position. Nothing big or annoying, maybe just make their trunks hop away from them. Thanks!" The door slip closed again.
Peter turned to Sirius. "Hasn't changed much has he? Pranking Lily's friends? Maybe he's not as whipped as you think."
"We're not turning their robes orange! We're doing a hopping charm," Sirius said off handedly and heading towards the door. "He's still whipped."
"Off to do the charm?" Remus asked.
"Yeah," said Sirius leaving the compartment.
As the door closed, Remus said to Peter. "And he calls James whipped."
"I HEARD THAT!" called Sirius from the hall.
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"And I made it!" Lily looked up from her book to see James standing in the doorway, his hands in the air as if he had just stuck a jump off a gymnastics vault.
She looked down at her watch. "And 3 minutes to spare! Congratulations." She held out 3 papers to him. "Just sign at the bottom of these and we'll be ready for the 5th years."
He signed them quickly and sat beside her. "And so now we have a whole two minutes to relax."
Lily sighed. "You can say that again." She leaned her head back against the seat. "My wrist is cramping up."
James grabbed section F and looked it over. "This looks fairly straight forward. I'll write down what the prefects report so you can have a break."
Lily looked over at him and looked at him. His hazel eyes were transfixed on the pages. His glasses reflected the lights from the sconces along the walls. His hair was going every which way. "Thanks James," she said genuinely.
Standing up, he lead the way into the prefects compartment, still staring at the pages, almost running into the wall. Lily laughed at him before following him into the compartment.
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An hour later, both the 5th and 6th year prefects had made their reports and were headed back to their respected compartments.
"That's it!" Said Mark. "They are definitely rehearsing it."
"I know!" Jen said. "James Potter running a prefect report meeting. This all just doesn't make sense."
"Do you think she jinxed him? Into… I don't know, being responsible?"
"Maybe a potion," Jen pondered. "More likely. She's brilliant in that subject."
"She's brilliant in every subject so that doesn't really help us much." Said Mark frustrated. "Why the heck is she Gryffindor? She's so smart! We'd have won the house cup last year with her in our house."
Jen nodded in agreement as they entered their friends' compartment for the rest of the ride.
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BAH! I know I haven't written anything in forever and that this is abnormally short for this story but I have very little inspiration for what happens on the train and am super picky about how this particular story is written.
This chapter was written ENTIRELY because of an AMAZING review I received someone that was both helpful and encouraging. Thank you so much Binka! You inspired me to continue this story.
More reviews like that and I may be able to finish this story some day!
As always, Review and give notes!
Melissa Z