A/N: Yay, a new chapter! Sorry for the long wait. My finals are next week, and I've been busy studying. Also, this chapter is really long; it's about 12 pages! It might be a while until my next update, but I hope you guys like this chapter!
August 31st, 1977
Hogwarts Express, Platform 9³/₄
King's Cross Station, London
"Potter?" Lily asked disbelievingly. "Is this some sort of joke? Did you steal Remus' badge?" she asked.
James had gotten up from his seat at the end of the long table, and held up his hands in surrender.
"Lily, Dumbledore made me Head Boy. I swear, I don't know why any more than you do," James said earnestly.
"This is a joke," Lily repeated. Head Boys are always prefects first. They're hard-working, generous, loyal, brave, and have leadership qualities. Completely the opposite of James Potter! Lily had worked so hard for this position. James Potter did nothing of the sort. He was always fooling around with his friends, making fun of others, and pulling pranks. He took nothing seriously!
"Lily, just hear me out. I know you've always thought I'm a jerk, and I know I did some horrible things to you before, but I've changed! I really have," James pleaded.
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Potter, if you expect me to believe you've changed from your prank-pulling, arrogant, prattish ways, you're out of your mind," Lily snapped.
James' eyes darkened and his voice took on a harsh tone, "Evans, I don't care what you think of me. I'm going to try my best to be a good Head Boy and make things better between us. I've changed. If you can't see that past your prejudice against me, that's your problem."
Lily opened her mouth to deliver a biting reply, but James beat her to it.
"As Head students, I really think we should get to work choosing passwords for the common rooms and organizing for the Prefects' meeting," James said calmly, sitting back down in his chair.
Lily closed her mouth and stared at him. When had that annoying jerk been replaced with this level-headed, rational bloke? And more importantly, how?
James looked at Lily expectantly. "Are you going to sit or not?"
Lily slowly walked to the seat next to James, still slightly suspicious of his new behavior.
"So I was thinking we should start with choosing the common room and prefect bathroom passwords first," James said.
Lily snapped back into her Head Girl mode and said, "Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I made a list of possible passwords over the summer."
James widened his eyes. "Merlin, Lily, what do you do in your free time?"
Lily flushed and said, "I was just preparing early." Quickly changing the subject, she said, "Let's work on the points slips."
The two worked in silence for a while.
"There," James said, setting down his quill with a flourish.
"You're done already?" Lily asked in disbelief. She was barely halfway done.
"When you're not a perfectionist, it gets done pretty quickly," he replied pointedly.
"I'm not a perfectionist," Lily denied automatically.
"Please, Lily. You work twice as hard as everyone else in our year, and you study on the weekends," James said, skeptical.
"Maybe some of us aren't born with everything! Not all of us are geniuses," she retorted. Darn it. Had she just admitted that she thought James Potter was a genius? Please don't catch that, Potter.
"So you think I'm a genius?" James said, his eyes lighting up. He was too clever for his own good.
"I never said that," Lily said.
"Yes, you did. And maybe I am smart, but that doesn't mean I don't work hard. You just see what you want to see," James said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"Don't inflate your ego even more," Lily scoffed.
James glowered, about to reply, but the door slid open as prefects began arriving for the meeting.
The tension was palpable in the room, but in front of the prefects, neither James or Lily felt comfortable with continuing their fight.
The Slytherin prefects, including Severus Snape and Bellatrix Black arrived.
"Evans is Head Girl? This place is going to the dumps. A Mudblood as Head Girl!" sneered Bellatrix.
James started forward, eyes blazing, but he was interrupted by Lily.
"Black, I'd shut your mouth if I were you. As Head Girl, I can give you a week of detention for using foul language," Lily said scornfully.
Bellatrix grumbled a bit, but did not interrupt as Lily began the meeting.
"Hello, everyone. To the 5th year prefects, congratulations, and to the others, welcome back," Lily said, brightly. "My name is Lily Evans, and I am your Head Girl this year."
"And I'm James Potter, your Head Boy," James said importantly, smirking slightly as a few female prefects swooned.
Lily grit her teeth and continued, "This year, we've got a lot do. First things first. During the train ride, you will be patrolling the corridors in pairs according to your year and house. There will be two shifts, and you can sign up here."
She picked up a long piece of parchment and handed it to the prefect on her immediate left.
As they passed along the sheet, James said, "After the Welcome Feast, you will have to escort the first years to their dormitories. Each house will receive their passwords momentarily."
Lily recovered from her initial shock at seeing James take charge, and delivered slips of paper to the prefects, color coded by House.
Was James being, for once, responsible? Maybe he had changed. Lily forced the peculiar thought out of her mind to think about later.
"Now, one of the perks of being prefect is having access to the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor, to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password is 'unitas.' Quidditch captains are the only other people who know the password," Lily said authoritatively.
"The last thing to discuss before we leave is giving out punishments. As prefects, you are trusted with taking away points and handing out detentions to anyone found breaking the rules. We trust that you will not take advantage of this ability and treat everyone with fairness," James said, impressively staring down the Slytherins.
Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. He sure didn't practice what he preached. Potter had always picked on unsuspecting students, hexing them in the corridors for fun.
And Remus! He never punished his friends, even though they got in trouble at least once a week. But Lily hadn't punished her friends when she caught them out after curfew, had she?
"The next time we meet will be on September 18th at 7 o'clock in the prefect's lounge next to the staff room. We'll discuss signing up for shifts for patrolling the corridors then," Lily said.
Having concluded the meeting, Lily and James stepped back and waited for the prefects to file out of the room. Lily saw Remus dawdling near the exit, obviously waiting for James.
"Er, Potter, the way you handled that meeting was unexpected," Lily said, glancing at him.
His mouth quirked up. "I told you I'd changed."
Lily almost smiled, but she caught herself. "Keep acting responsibly, and I might just believe it."
With that, Lily picked up her things and swept out of the room, leaving James staring after her open-mouthed.
"Did'ja hear that, Moony?" he asked Remus excitedly. "She thinks I'm responsible! She thinks I've changed! We'll be going out by Halloween."
Remus smiled at James. "Prongs, you definitely showed her the loyal, determined side of you, but you're still a long way from dating."
James shrugged. "At least she doesn't hate me anymore. I think."
Remus grinned, slung his arm around James' shoulder, and said, "Let's go tell Padfoot and Wormtail the good news."
Lily went back to her compartment, sitting back in her seat with a sigh.
"How was it?" Marlene asked, eyeing Lily in curiosity.
"Better than I expected," Lily answered, picking up a Chocolate Frog. "If you can believe it, Potter was actually responsible."
"No way," Dorcas said, rolling her eyes. "I've told you a hundred times, Lil, you just have to give him a chance."
Lily sniffed. "Just because he seemed like a decent human being today doesn't mean I'm changing my opinion on him. He's an―"
"Annoying bullying toerag," Alice cut in. "We've heard your 'I hate James Potter' spiel a million times. Now relax and stop hoarding all the Chocolate Frogs."
Lily reluctantly let go of Potter's strange behavior, and joined the girls in a discussion about Quidditch.
A few hours later, the train was slowing down, arriving at Hogsmeade. Lily changed into her black school robes and pinned her Head Girl badge carefully on the front.
"Lily, meet up at the Gryffindor table," Alice called, descending to the platform with her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, at her side.
Lily waved in understanding, and left to find an empty carriage. There were only a few left, so she hurried to the nearest one and clambered inside.
"Oomph, I'm sorry," Lily said, as she toppled into someone's lap.
"Lily, if you wanted to sit on my lap, you could've just asked," an annoyingly familiar voice said.
Lily slowly sat up, and turned around to find James Potter and the rest of the Marauders smirking at her.
"Not in a lifetime, Potter," Lily snapped, blushing as she sat down next to Remus.
"How was your summer, Lily?" he asked, smiling.
"Fine, and yours, Remus?" she asked.
Remus was the only one of the Marauders Lily actually liked. He was studious and liked the same books Lily did. His handsome features, sandy brown hair and green eyes that always twinkled in dry humor, also helped.
"It was great. How did you find the Potions essay?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Lily giggled. It was commonly known that Remus was dismal at potions, having blown up his cauldron more than once last year. "Not too bad. I hope this year you'll keep the cauldron explosions to a minimum."
Remus blushed. "Can't make any promises."
James cleared his throat, wanting Lily to pay attention to him. "So, ah, Lily. Did you know Sirius here bought a motorcycle and crashed it through my roof?"
Lily's eyes widened as she stared at Sirius. "I didn't know you were interested in Muggle transportation!" Looking back at James, she asked, "And what do you mean through your roof?"
Sirius replied, "I might've charmed it to fly. You know, no biggie."
"That's illegal!" Lily said, half amused and half horrified.
"Loosen up, Evans, no one got hurt. Except for James' cat, but really, who likes cats? Personally, I'm a dog person," Sirius said.
Peter smirked. "I'm sure you are, Padfoot."
Lily shrugged off her confusion at the boys' antics. After all, they were the Marauders. No one understood them.
She spent the rest of the carriage ride staring out the window, watching as Hogwarts came closer and closer. The large, towering castle loomed above her. It was humongous and filled with secrets Lily was sure she had not discovered. The magic and love she felt for this place, her second home, was overwhelming. She didn't know what she would do next year, when she graduated from Hogwarts.
They finally arrived at the foot of the castle, and Lily slipped out of the carriage, eager to join her friends and fellow Gryffindors.
"Lil! Over here!" called Marlene.
Lily quickly jogged into the Entrance Hall, finding Dorcas and Marlene near the corner of the large chamber.
"Where's Alice?" she asked.
Marlene giggled. "Off with Frank somewhere, of course."
The trio of girls smirked at the thought of their friend. Alice had pined after Frank for their first five years at Hogwarts, unaware that he felt the same. Frank had finally asked out Alice last year, and they'd been together ever since.
Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene entered the Great Hall, sitting down beside a couple fourth years as the first years entered the room and began their Sorting.
Lily glanced to her left and was surprised to find the Marauders sitting only a few seats down from them.
James caught Lily staring and smiled at her. A genuine smile, not one of those smug smirks he constantly gave.
Lily tentatively smiled back and quickly faced her friends again, missing the knowing glance Dorcas and Marlene sent each other.
"Guys," James hissed. "Lily smiled at me."
Sirius dramatically gasped. "The world is ending!"
James smacked the back of Sirius' head.
"I'm serious. And don't you dare say anything," he warned Sirius, who grinned.
"Jamesiepoo, I'm proud of you, mate. You're making tons of progress," Sirius said, nodding.
James smiled, missing the sarcasm. "Thanks, Pads."
Sirius turned to Remus and whispered, "How dense can you get?"
At this point, the Sorting had ended and Dumbledore stood up to make his annual speech.
"To our new students, welcome! And to our old students, welcome back to another year of learning, magic, and friendship. As always, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students," he said, eyes twinkling as he stared at the Marauders.
"I am pleased to introduce this year's Head students, Lily Evans and James Potter, both of Gryffindor."
James and Lily stood up while the students applauded.
"Please meet in my office after the feast. Without further ado, let the feast begin!" Dumbledore concluded, sitting back down.
Varieties of different types of food appeared on the gold platters. Rice, chicken, pie, chips, fish, vegetables, noodles, steaks, the choices were endless.
Sirius and James filled their plates up and began eating like they were starving. Remus gave James a look and said, "Prongs, you do know Lily is three seats down from us, and she can see you eating, right?"
James looked horrified and swallowed his mouthful of fries with great effort. "Thanks, Moony."
He began eating at a more reasonable pace while Remus rolled his eyes.
After the feast, Remus fulfilled his prefect's duties and led the new first years up to Gryffindor tower and James departed to the Headmaster's office.
He met Lily in front of the two gargoyles guarding the office.
"Er, do you know how to get in?" Lily asked, perplexed.
"It's usually some type of candy," James said, knowledgable from his many past trips to Dumbledore's office.
"Sugar Quills!" said a voice behind them.
James spun around to find Dumbledore standing right behind him, smiling.
"If either of you need to see me for whatever reason, Sugar Quills is the password," he said, leading the trio up to his office.
Dumbledore took a seat in his large throne-like chair, as James and Lily sat in the plush velvet chairs across from him.
"I suppose congratulations are in order for the two of you. After speaking with your Professors along with my own opinion, I decided that you two would be the best choices for our Head students," he said, surveying them from above his spectacles.
"I have a couple things to discuss with you two. First of all, as Head students you will have your own Head's room. It is located in the north corridor on the fifth floor. The password is 'Felix Felicis' and you will each have your own rooms," Dumbledore said.
"Now, I would like to talk about something important that will impact you after your Hogwarts years," Dumbledore said seriously.
"As you know, Voldemort has been gaining power over the years. The deaths of Muggles and Muggleborns have plastered the Daily Prophet for a while now. I must ask you both to stay vigilant and report anything that seems suspicious to me."
"Sir, do you think students of Hogwarts are planning to join Voldemort?" James asked, frowning.
Dumbledore sighed. "In fact, there are a few students I've been keeping track of. I believe it is wise to inform you of these potential future Death Eaters. Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Evan Rosier, Leonov Mulciber, and Severus Snape."
Lily stiffened at the sound of her ex-best friend's name. She knew Severus revelled in the Dark Arts, but to go so far as to join Voldemort? They had gone down such different paths, Lily felt as if she didn't know who he was anymore.
James noticed Lily's reaction and felt a familiar burst of anger directed towards Snape. He had disliked Snape ever since their first year, because he was a gross, greasy Slytherin, and because Lily was friends with him. His dislike had escalated to hatred for Snape after he had called Lily a Mudblood in fifth year.
"Sir, do you want us to keep an eye on them?" James asked Dumbledore, changing the subject to Lily's relief. She didn't want to talk about Snape any more.
"If it isn't too much to ask, James," Dumbledore said, nodding. "I would like to meet with you over the year and talk about this more. But for now, off to bed with the two of you! You've got a long day tomorrow."
James nodded and stood up, walking out of the office with Lily.
They walked in silence along the corridors until they reached the north corridor of the fifth floor.
The walls on both sides of the corridor were strangely empty of portraits, paintings, and tapestries, unlike Hogwarts' other hallways. The only decoration was a large square portrait of a man hanging in the middle of the left side of the corridor.
Lily shrugged at James and said, "Felix Felicis?"
The knight in the painting nodded and swung open to reveal the Heads' room.
Lily and James walked into the large common room with high ceilings. It was decorated in red and gold, just like the Gryffindor common room. In the middle of the room, there was a fireplace and a few couches and sofas with a table between them.
There was a door on both the left and right side of the room. The left was a library and study, filled with bookshelves that held textbooks about advanced magic, Muggle paperbacks, romance novels, and more. Lily was very pleased with the wide selection of books.
The door on the right led to a bathroom that resembled the prefect's bathroom. Lily flushed at the thought of sharing a bathroom with James.
In the back of the room was a curved staircase that led to a balcony on the second floor. Lily ascended the stairs to find two rooms leading off the joint balcony on either side. Lily could see James in the room on the right, so she entered the one on the left.
Lily gasped in surprise. The walls were a light lavender, Lily's favorite color. There was a large window that had a view of the Quidditch pitch and the grounds. It was beautiful. Lily had a large queen sized bed in the middle of the room and a mahogany desk in front of the window. There was a closet on the other wall, ready to be filled with clothes from Lily's trunk, which lay at the foot of her bed.
She immediately began to unpack her things. She put her clothes in her closet, her quills, parchment, and books in her bag, and laid out her robes for the next day.
Lily changed into her nightdress and made her way to the bathroom. She opened the door and found James inside, brushing his teeth.
"Oh, hello Potter!" she said in surprise.
"Hey Lily," James said, rinsing his mouth. "How do you find the room? Nice, eh?"
"Yup," Lily said. "Did you see the library? It had a whole section on advanced Charms!"
"Pretty cool. And what'd you think about what Dumbledore said?"
Lily frowned, her happiness evaporating. "It's hard to imagine people our age joining Voldemort. But then again, I'm ready to fight against him."
James tilted his head at Lily. "Do you mean as an Auror?"
Lily nodded.
"That's what I want to do, too. My dad's the Head Auror at the Ministry," James said proudly.
Lily snorted a little at James' arrogance. "Well, good for you."
James rambled on, oblivious to Lily's annoyance. "And the people he named as possible Death Eaters! I mean, of course Bellatrix, she's Sirius' cousin and he told me how obsessed she is. But some of them, I wouldn't have thought they'd join. Snape, for example. Obviously he's into the whole Dark Arts thing, but joining Voldemort? He's a lost cause. I never thought—"
"—shut up, Potter," Lily hissed, glaring at him.
James shut up. He looked at Lily, and seemed horrified at his words. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lily, I didn't mean to upset you. I know you were friends, but really, you're better off without him, aren't you?"
Lily flared with anger. "What do you know, Potter? You don't know Snape like I did. You was my friend, and you don't know how it feels to have one of your friends betray you, do you? You and your Marauders are so perfect, right? None of them would ever call you a Mudblood and join Voldemort and kill people just like you, would they? Because no, you're perfect James Potter."
James looked bewildered. "I didn't—Lily, I didn't say I'm perfect. I just thought that you— do you still miss Snape?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Yes, I miss him. I miss who he was, my first friend. He was the one who told me about Hogwarts and magic. But I don't know who he is anymore."
Lily sunk to her knees, and, to her embarrassment, began crying. She was so overwhelmed with everything that had happened today: finding out Potter was Head Boy, getting taunted by the Slytherins, finding out her old best friend was basically guaranteed to be a Death Eater. She couldn't take it anymore, so she cried.
James stood in front of her, looking confused. He was not experienced with crying girls.
"Er, Lily? I'm really sorry if I upset you," he said softly.
James sat down next to Lily and cautiously stroked her deep auburn hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"I just can't believe he's joined Voldemort," she sobbed.
"Shhh, it's okay. Forget about him. He made his choices and you made yours. There's nothing more you can do," James said.
"But what if I could've stopped him? I should have helped him more, spent more time with him," Lily said, hiccuping.
"Lily," James said sternly. "Look at me."
Lily raised a tearful face to him. James felt his heart break slightly at the sight of Lily, cheeks blotchy and eyes filled with sorrow.
"It's not your fault. You did everything you could have, and you can't do anything else," he said, staring into her eyes.
Lily stared back at him, and nodded.
"Thanks, Ja—Potter," she said weakly. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, crying on your shoulder."
"No problem, Lily," James said. "I'm always here for you."
Lily smiled. "And, er, Potter, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention this to anyone."
"Not a problem," James said. "Good night, Lily."
"Night, Potter," Lily said.
James left, still thinking about Lily. The things he would do for love...
Lily went to bed a while later, and lay there, thinking about a lot of things. First of all, Potter was right, she decided. She had to forget about Severus Snape. They weren't friends anymore.
And there was Potter himself. He really had changed. In fifth year, Lily was sure he would laugh in her face if she had cried. James Potter had grown up, and Lily could see it.
Lily decided he wasn't that bad of a person. After all, today, he hadn't done anything remarkably prattish. And he had let her cry on his shoulder without making a single snide comment.
Lily resolved to give Potter a chance. She'd watch him for a couple weeks and then decide if they could be friends.
Comfortable with her decision, Lily fell into a dreamless sleep, still thinking of James Potter.
A/N: I'm sorry if I got a few facts wrong. I'm not really sure what the Head's room is supposed to look like, and I'm not sure how old Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Mulciber, and Rosier should be. This is as canon I could get it, at any rate.
Hope you guys liked this chapter, and please leave a review! Who knows, maybe it'll give me inspiration to write faster.
Xx, Emmy