Last November, ten years after my last completed story, I found myself in a bad place and in need of a distraction. So I opened a blank document and told myself: James/Lily, seventh year. GO.
30K+ words later, this is the result.
This story is completed (I've also started work on a sequel/continuation but that's probably not going to be finished any time soon) and you can expect updates every 4-5 days, depending on which day I get home at a reasonable hour.
Thanks to Sara for the beta and to Elena for her help and support!
I hope you enjoy. :)
Daniel and Rosalind Evans were glowing with pride as they walked behind their youngest daughter through the throngs of people swarming King's Cross station. She was seventeen and a half, a real adult witch, about to start her last year of magic school, and the best in her year. Even though they could hardly claim to have played any part in her progress, they had offered her all their love and support throughout this journey, and seeing her now, all grown up, marching confidently ahead, pushing a trolley with her trunk on it, they knew she was ready to take on the world.
The only thing taking from their joy was that their other daughter refused to join in her sister's happy moment. At least they were consoled in the knowledge that she, too, had done well for herself, having already finished school and preparing for her wedding. She had not even tried to use the preparations as an excuse; they all knew she didn't care to come along. Lily had got used to it a long time ago.
They reached the wall hiding Platform 9¾. Lily placed her trolley on the side, in case anyone else wanted to pass through before her, and hugged her parents in turn.
"We'll see you at Christmas, right, honey?"
"Yes, mum, of course."
"Have a good time at school and take care of yourself."
"I will."
With a last look at them, she took her trolley and crossed the magical barrier.
On the other side of the brick wall, the Hogwarts students were forming small groups as they reunited with their friends. Lily looked for her girlfriends, but encountered another familiar face first.
"Remus! Hi!"
"Oh, hi, Lily." He smiled warmly at her; Remus always seemed to radiate warmth and friendliness. They had been quite friendly ever since they had been named prefects together. "How was your summer?"
"Um, good, I guess. Nothing special. Though we did spend a week at the beach with my parents." Petunia hadn't come along. "And yours?"
Remus shrugged. "I've had better. My parents are very worried about the whole You-Know-Who situation. My mum's a Muggle, so..."
"I know." She nodded. "Sometimes I get worried about my parents too. There are some other wizards in our area too, you never know who's going to attract attention, or..."
Remus's expression darkened. He knew Lily well enough to understand her fears. The idea that someone who used to be your best friend could be a danger to you or your family sounded like nothing less than a knife through the heart.
He put his hand on her shoulder. "If you need any kind of help, with hiding, or moving... I've got some experience." He managed a small, wry smile.
She sighed, but reflected his smile. "Anyway. Have you seen any of the girls? I want to say hi before we have to go to the prefects' carriage."
"I've only seen Lauren, she walked past here with her sister. But it's still early."
She nodded. "I'll go find her, and I'll see you later on the train. Are you Head Boy?" she added the afterthought.
He shook his head. No one would have really expected him to be appointed Head Boy. The prefects from the other Houses were all outstanding students, whereas he wasn't even the best in his House.
He didn't tell her that he knew who it was. It wouldn't have been fair to James, who had spent the best part of the past month looking forward to seeing Lily's face when she'd find out.
"See you later," he only said.
Lily spent some time with Lauren and her little sister, Lettie, and their other friends soon joined them; Patricia and Diane, the other Gryffindor girls from their year, and Star and Charlotte, who were one year younger. Lily knew pretty much everyone in Gryffindor, since she saw it as part of her duties as a prefect; she made sure to keep the order, but was also like a big sister to everyone, from helping with homework to offering a shoulder to cry on. The girls in particular loved her. Not that she had problems with the Gryffindor boys, but they tended to resort to the other boys; to Remus, to John Riley – last year's Head Boy – or to James Potter, who had his own authority as the Quidditch Captain.
When the time was ten to eleven, Lily locked arms with Star – she was the sixth-year prefect – and they headed to the prefects' compartment, while continuing their previous conversation about the younger girl's goals for the NEWTs.
"I don't really care about Charms but I think it's a really useful NEWT to have," Star was saying. "And I think eight NEWTs is doable. What do you think?"
"Absolutely. I'm doing nine. I'm sure you can do eight and get great marks too. Though I would recommend you to get Defence either on top of or instead of Charms. Times are difficult and you're Muggleborn too; you need all the help you can get."
"Right, I didn't think of that." Star frowned.
"Hey." Lily squeezed her friend's arm. "It'll be fine. But do take Defence. It's a fascinating subject anyway. Though I don't know who will teach it this year; you heard that Professor Charleston retired, right?"
"Yes! And he was too young for that, too. Weird."
"He was diagnosed with some kind of early dementia. Couldn't continue working."
"That's a shame. I liked him. Really nice bloke."
Lily drew the door to her usual compartment open. There was Remus, as she had expected, huddled in the corner seat. Across from him, to her surprise, James Potter lay stretched, legs open wide, occupying half the compartment as if he owned the place. She opened her mouth to berate him, but then she caught sight of the badge on his robes and realised he sort of did.
"Would you say this is proper posture for a Head Boy?" she asked with a smirk.
"Hey, Evans." He smirked back, but sat up straight and put his legs down. "Congratulations, by the way. I may not have the best posture but I don't forget my manners."
She nodded. "Congratulations to you too."
"You don't look surprised," he noted. "I was much more so."
"I could have been," she replied earnestly, "but you're in all my classes so I know you're the best student in the school."
"Besides you."
"After me."
He smirked again. "Now, that sounds more like you. Care to join us?" He accompanied his question with an exaggerated gesture.
She shrugged. "I could do worse." She took the seat next to Remus, and Star sat beside her. "Have you thought at all about how to split responsibilities?"
"Later."
"We have to be prepared," she insisted, "know what to say to the prefects."
"We don't even know who all the prefects are yet. You can't assign roles without knowing your material."
If Lily had had the chance to wonder whether his role as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain had weighed in the decision to appoint James Potter as Head Boy, she would have just got her answer.
Truth be told, James Potter actually had great posture.
He wasn't the tallest, but he stood with the chin up, the shoulders thrown back and his back straight, a naturally commanding presence that, coupled with his loud, clear voice and sharp tongue, left no place for second-guessing his authority.
Not even to the other seventh-year prefects, who were looking at him with their lips pressed and their arms crossed.
All three boys – Lucas Baxter from Slytherin, Gavin Preacher from Ravenclaw, and Josh Bailey from Hufflepuff – had similar profiles. Excellent students, good kids, but the kind of dorky, quiet ones that the teachers always appreciate, but won't really remember after a few years. Lily was sure they all thought they were perfect candidates for Head Boy, and truthfully, she'd have been hard pressed to choose one out of the three. She might have gone for Baxter, but for a different reason; he was the only decent bloke in all of seventh-year Slytherin. The only one who, for all the haughtiness of his demeanour, did not participate in any of the bullying, name-calling and the other nasty acts his classmates made a habit of perpetrating. That should count for something.
"...very carefully." James was addressing this exact problem. "I will not tolerate any hate speech towards Muggleborns, let alone anything worse. Baxter, your classmates are notorious for those tendencies, so mark my words. Make it clear to them that if I ever hear of anyone harassing Muggleborns, I will have them expelled. Linden, that goes for the girls too."
The two Slytherins nodded.
"And the rest of you," he addressed the younger Slytherin prefects further back, "I know you're good kids and that's why you're here. Talk to your friends and classmates and stop this. It's gone too far. People are dying out in the real world, and it all starts here at school. It has to stop."
A Ravenclaw boy seemed like he wanted to object, but didn't.
"I think that's all," James concluded. "You know what to do from now on. We'll be in touch, but I trust you all to have the school's and your classmates' best interests at heart and act accordingly. Go find your friends now and enjoy the rest of the ride."
The small crowd dispersed, and James turned to Lily with a proud smile.
"What did you think?"
"Great speech, actually," she admitted. "Even though we hadn't planned it." They had, eventually, made a rough outline of how to talk to the prefects and split responsibilities, where Lily had taken the lead thanks to her experience and better personal relationships with the other prefects. But the fact that James was concerned about this matter at all had come completely out of left field for her.
"You couldn't have addressed this issue. You're Muggleborn and you have skin in the game. It was on me."
She nodded. "I hope what you said reaches some ears."
"It better, because I meant every word."
The feast back at the castle was everything Lily had missed from Hogwarts. The abundant, delicious food, the magical atmosphere, her friends – people who actually appreciated her – even the teachers. She was a favourite among them, anyway.
The Sorting was fun as always. There were seven new students for Gryffindor – four boys, three girls – and the fifth-year prefects were assigned to introduce them to their new surroundings and guide them around, while the sixth-year prefects along with Remus would brief the older students. Lily and James were asked to meet with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"First of all, congratulations," Dumbledore started.
"Thank you," they both replied.
"We took a risk assigning both Heads from Gryffindor," continued McGonagall, "but we have trust in your skills and personalities. You have to know you were not only chosen for your academic achievements, but because we believe you can lead and inspire the other students to flourish. Miss Evans, you have the necessary experience, and the students from all the Houses appreciate you and respect you. All we need from you is to keep up the good work."
"Yes, Professor."
"Mr Potter." She exhaled deeply. "I have been trusting you with our Quidditch team for two years with excellent results. I expect you can draw from your success there to carry out your role as Head Boy as well."
"Yes, Professor."
"However. It will not be as easy to gain the respect of the students outside Gryffindor. You have not exactly worked towards it all these years." She gave him a stern look. "I shouldn't need to tell you that this has to change."
"I understand."
Dumbledore stepped forward. "There is one more thing I have to ask of you two."
Lily and James nodded.
"I am sure you are aware of the difficult political situation. We are, essentially, in a war. I want you to do your best so that this climate does not transfer to the students. It is not an easy balance to keep and we have not always been successful. You, as students, are in a better position to monitor for any unpleasant events."
"We're on it," James replied readily. "We've already briefed the prefects on the issue."
Dumbledore blinked; he obviously had more of a speech planned. "Good, good. Then I suppose we're all set. You can go get yourselves settled; it has been a long day."
"Thank you, Professor. Goodnight."
They left Professor McGonagall's office, closing the door behind them.
Dumbledore turned to McGonagall. "I told you he's our best bet." His eyes twinkled.
She absently looked towards the door. "His heart is certainly in the right place. I just hope he starts employing other means of persuasion instead of the ones he usually prefers."
The atmosphere in the Gryffindor common room was enthusiastic. Someone – Lily was quite sure who – had brought several bottles of Butterbeer, along with tons of pumpkin juice, ginger biscuits, chocolate cake and other snacks that undoubtedly originated from the Hogwarts kitchens.
"We have to celebrate our two Gryffindor Heads!" the Someone exclaimed, when they approached him. "This hasn't happened in twenty-five years!"
"And you want to make sure it won't happen again, by smuggling alcohol in here," Lily admonished him.
"I have no idea how these bottles got here," the Someone said very seriously. No one believed him.
"We'll just share them between us seventh-years, okay?" James intervened, looking at Lily.
She exhaled heavily and put her hands on her hips. "Whatever. But if any of the youngsters talk, you're all going down. You included."
James did not object to that, instead picked up two corked bottles with each hand. "Take these for you and the girls. I've got the rest."
She did take them, and joined her friends who were sitting near the fireplace.
Admittedly, the small party had ran very smoothly. There was some loudness, but nothing to merit the teachers' attention. After all, every year, with the classmates reuniting, the first night was never expected to go down quietly.
Lily was the last one to make it to the dormitory, wanting to make sure everything was in proper order before she retired. The other girls were already in their pyjamas; Lauren already under the covers, Patricia in front of her mirror braiding her long, golden hair, and Diane sitting on her bed, on Lily's right side.
"Tired?" she asked.
Lily plopped on her bed with her head near the footboard. "Very." She buried her face in the red eiderdown. "I don't wanna go to class tomorrow."
"That's a big fat lie."
Lily mumbled something not very nice. It came out as a muffled whine since she was still face down.
Diane's lip curled upwards and she slipped under the bedcover. "Don't stay up too long. Goodnight." She drew the curtains.
Lily sighed and got up to change into her pyjamas.
Thank you for reading! Comments are love!