Chapter 32: A New School Year

"Are you sure you have absolutely everything? Every last thing?" My mum asked, glancing at my trunk. I sighed loudly.

"Yes mum, I have everything." I assured her.

"Oh, I can't believe it!" She squealed, tackling me with a hug.

"Oof." I said softly at the impact. I hugged her back, and when she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. I turned to my dad quickly. I didn't want to cry! He gave me a watery smile.

"I can't believe it either…you're growing up, Lils. It's your last year here. You're Head Girl. You have great friends-"

"And a great boyfriend!" My mom added, wiping the tears away. My dad and I rolled my eyes at each other.

"Anyway, you've done so great…and we're so proud of you." He finished, hugging me. The train whistle blew behind me.

"Oh, I need to go. I'll write to you guys soon, okay?" I promised. They nodded.

"I love you." They said in unison. I laughed.

"Love you too!" I said, before giving them each another hug.

"Tell James I said hi!" My mum told me. My dad and I shook our heads in disbelief.

"I will, I will. I need to go now. Bye, mum, bye dad!" I said, backing up, with a wave.

"Bye!" They said together. I smiled and turned around to walk on to the train. I'd be in the Heads compartment this year. As Head Girl. I, Lily Marie Evans, am Head Girl. It took everything I had to not squeal out in happiness right now. I went to the Heads compartment at the front of the train and pulled the door open. James was already there.

"James!" I smiled. I hadn't seen him in weeks. We've been writing to each other, but the last time I saw him was when he came to tell me he was Head Boy.

"Lily!" He yelled. He picked me up and spun me around, giving me a quick kiss. "I missed you so much!" He muttered, pulling me into his chest and stroking my hair. I sighed.

"Me too." I murmured, inhaling his scent that I missed so much.

"LILY-FLOWER!" Sirius boomed. I groaned into James' chest and looked up at him.

"Don't let me go." I begged, holding on to James tighter. His body shook with laughter.

"Rejected, Padfoot." Remus said from behind him.

"Lily-flower, I'm hurt! Do you not like me anymore? Is there something you need to say?" Sirius asked dramatically, his pitch escalating.

"Yes." I said, still not looking at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Go away. It was nice before you three came here." I said, burying my head into James' chest again.

"How'd you know there were three of us here? I haven't said a word so far." Peter told me.

"She's Lily. She just knows things. She's like…Dumbledore." Sirius explained.

"No, after a year and something of going out with James, I realized, when you go out with one Marauder, you end up going out with all of them." I explained. "You're like a package, you know?"

"Exactly. Quadruple the fun, eh?" Sirius said, and I could hear the suggestive tone in his voice. I groaned loudly again.

"Right. So I think that's your cue to leave." James chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll get them out of here. I just wanted to remind you, Lily, the prefect/Heads meeting you guys are running starts soon, once the train starts moving." Remus said, and the train started moving. "So it's now." Remus laughed.

"Where?" I groaned. I was still in summer-mode. I didn't feel like doing this just yet. I was comfortable where I was.

"Next compartment over." Remus said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Get out of here, Lupin." I growled.

"Fine." He yelled dramatically, and stomped out of the compartment.

"They're all gone now." James told me, brushing my hair away from my face. I sighed and quickly kissed him.

"We need to go now. To meet the prefects." I groaned.

"Yeah." He sighed dejectedly. I pulled away from him, and he left one arm around my waist. We left our Heads compartment and went to the one next to ours. It looked like everyone was already there. Actually, it looked like too many people were there.

"SIRIUS!" I barked. Everyone jumped about a foot in the air. "PETER!"

"Er…nice seeing you two detached…?" Peter said, giving me a nervous half-smile. I glared at them angrily.

"REMUS!" I yelled.

"But I'm supposed to be here!" He protested.

"Why, why, did you let these two in here?" I demanded. I turned to the rest of the compartment. "Why did any of you let them stay here?" I demanded again. I looked around the compartment at the stunned faces, being careful to skip over Snape's. I kind of wanted to see what damage I did to his face, if it was still there, but I also kind of didn't. But then, I found a face that was new and all too familiar. "Marlene?" I asked, my eyes widening. On her robes was a shiny, new prefect badge.

"Lily, you finally noticed me!" She laughed, coming over to give me a quick hug. I raised an eyebrow, asking why she had it. "This? Oh, well now that you're Head Girl, I guess Dumbledore wanted another Gryffindor girl to be prefect, to make the numbers even." She explained. I nodded and looked around at everyone once more.

"What are you two still doing here? We need to start the meeting!" I yelled to Sirius and Peter. They stared blankly at them. "James, can you please get these two out of here?" I asked, turning to him.

"Padfoot, Wormtail, out." James said, pointing to the door. They didn't budge. He glared. They looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"Fine!" Sirius yelled in defeat, as he and Peter jumped up. "I swear, what's she doing to you? She must give pretty good-"

"Sirius Orion Black, I dare you to finish that sentence." I sneered, giving him the worst glare I could. He paled and shrunk back a little.

"What sentence? I didn't say anything." He tried to cover up. He rushed past me, with Peter on his tail. I quickly brought out my wand and pointed it at Sirius.

"Diffindo." I whispered, and his pants split, falling to his ankles. I pocketed my wand once more, and smirked as he gaped at me. "So, we can start now." I said, turning to all of the stunned faces in the carriage. The fifth years looked scared, the sixth years were laughing at Sirius, and the seventh years were whispering among themselves. "Okay guys, we're starting now." I repeated, and they all turned to look at me.

"Why are you Head Girl? Obviously, I deserve it." The Slytherin seventh year girl prefect said, flipping her hair behind her.

"I'm not sure how to answer that question. That's a question Professor Dumbledore can more appropriately answer." I told her promptly. "Now-"

"Why's he Head Boy? He's done nothing!" Snape sneered, gesturing James. I was slightly disappointed to see whatever I did to his face gone, or covered up. There was a general murmur of agreement between everyone. One of them even pointed out that James wasn't ever a prefect.

"Okay everyone, I assure you that neither of us went up to Professor Dumbledore's office and begged him to make us Heads. If you have questions about it, go ask him, not us. And I will assure you, I don't doubt James' competency. Although his previous years here have been less than helpful to our school, he has changed and he is ready to this on. That will be the end of that discussion." I told them all forcefully, giving them all the glare that I used on Sirius just a moment ago.

"And, Lily is very qualified for this, and any of you who disagree should go get themselves checked. It's obvious to anyone who's been in the school that Lily is the best one in our year for this job, and has been since she stepped in the school. Now it's the end of this discussion." James added, giving them all a forceful look I didn't know he had.

The rest of the meeting went by quite quietly, and no one else really spoke up. We were able to give them all patrolling arrangements, and thankfully, we were able to pair House prefects together, unlike last year.

"Lily, thanks." James said after the meeting was over. I looked up at him.

"What for?" I asked, completely confused.

"For sticking up for me. I know how hard it was for you to accept it at first…so thanks." He smiled. I shrugged.

"For us to be able to do this, we need to believe in each other." I reminded him, putting an arm around his waist. We walked back into the Heads compartment and took seats next to each other. I rested my head on his shoulder. He started rubbing circles on my sides, but then suddenly stopped. I looked up at him and gave him a questioning look.

"I just remembered I need to ask Padfoot something…do you want to come?" He offered. I shook my head.

"No, I think I'll stay here. I wanted to read some stuff in our textbook anyway." I told him, looking up at my trunk. I brought out my wand and unlocked it. I summoned the Charms textbook, my favorite. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Uh, whatever works for you?" He said as more of a question than a statement. He was probably wondering why on earth I'd want to read our textbook in my free time. I rolled my eyes.

"Just go." I said, shooing him out the door. He smiled and quickly kissed me.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised, before shutting the compartment door. I cracked open the book, taking the scent in first. I loved the smell of new book. It was just so…good. I opened up to chapter one, and started reading when I heard the compartment door slide open.

"You're back quick." I said, raising my head to look up. But it wasn't James who opened the door. No, standing in front of me was Snape. "Oh." I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. "What are you doing here?" I asked, only not sneering at him since I felt a little bad for punching him. Only a little, though. He sat down across from me and I raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall letting you in, nor do I remember inviting you to sit down." I reminded him. He looked away for a moment; it seemed he hadn't even registered that I spoke. He sat there, looking at the window in silence for a few minutes. I sighed loudly. "Listen, if you're not going to do anything, I suggest you leave. Believe me, James-"

"Join us." He interrupted, looking me in the eye once more. I blinked a few times.

"What?" I asked softly.

"Join us." He repeated. "He's real; he can protect you, and your family. The Dark Lord's rising, he's coming into power, and he values people like you, Lily." I was so stunned, I didn't even bother telling him not to call me that.

"Okay, I need to make sure I heard right. You are asking me to join You-Know-Who to protect myself and my family?" I clarified.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying." He confirmed. He looked hopeful for a moment.

"You've gone insane." I told him. "I would rather die than join him. I have no interest in joining him, and I'm perfectly content where I am." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Lily, he's going to kill you." Snape repeated, and I felt a sense of desperation in his voice. I shook my head.

"I'd rather die knowing I did the right thing than die knowing I'm the reason dozens of people are dead, lying on the streets." I said, now glaring at him. "Now, if that's all you needed to say..." I said, gesturing the door. I realized, my heart was beating very quickly and my palms were sweaty.

"Fine." He said, rising to his feet. "But, if you ever change your mind, you know where I am." I rolled my eyes. Not in a million years.

"When hell freezes over." I assured him. He gave me one last look of desperation before leaving. I sighed and tried to put the encounter from my mind.

"I just passed Snape and he gave me a glare that could rival yours…did he just come in here?" James asked as he entered the compartment. Well, so much for forgetting about it. I closed my book.

"You might want to sit down." I said softly. He took a seat next to me.

"What happened?" He asked. I took a deep breath and recounted exactly what happened. "He wanted you to join them….wow…that's…wow." James said, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. I put my head on his shoulder.

"My thoughts exactly." I muttered.

"It's nice to see all of your faces again for the new year. This summer has been anything but chaotic and I'm glad we are all still here. Firstly, I'd like to remind you all of the basic school rules: No going into the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore gave a pointed look in the Maruaders' direction, "No venturing in the hallways after curfew, no magic in the corridors." Sirius gave a small scoff at this. "And second, how about a round of applause to our Head Boy and Head Girl for this year, James Potter and Lily Evans!" There was a loud round of applause from the Gryffindors. Sirius was especially loud; he was banging his fists on the table. The Slytherins just exchanged dour glances. "I'd like to see the two of you after this." He added. "On that note, let the feast begin!" Dumbledore finished, clapping his hands together and sitting down. The Great Hall was quickly filled with loud voices as everyone started eating and talking to their friends.

"We need to tell you guys something tonight." James said, lowering his voice, leaning towards Remus, Sirius, and Peter, all who were across from us. Noticing the grave looks on our faces, their eyes widened. Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Remus quickly cut him off.

"Wait, you can't tell us tonight." Remus said. I tilted my head and looked at James.

"What?" I asked.

"You guys don't know? Head Boy and Head Girl get to share a dorm!" Remus smirked. Sirius' eyes widened, James raised his eyebrow happily, and Peter was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you guys are definitely going to do the deed." Sirius laughed.

"Shut up!" I screeched, kicking his leg.

"BLOODY HELL, WOMAN!" Sirius yelled, turning a few heads. He reached down, clutching his leg. "I'd watch out for that leg, mate. Oh, and that arm." He told James in a "whisper".

We finished up eating, just around the same time as everyone else did. People were going back to their dorms and the prefects were guiding the younger kids away to the house common rooms. I gave Marlene a thumbs up as she helped. James and I walked towards the staff table, pushing through the other students as Dumbledore made his way towards us, too. We ended up meeting in the middle.

"I wanted to discuss with you two about your housing arrangements. I'm sure you've heard by now that the Head Girl and Head Boy share a dorm. I'd like to remind you that this dorm is a privilege for the Heads, and I will ask for you to not abuse it. If you'll come with me, I'll show you where it is." He said, and he walked passed us, leaving us to follow him. By now, everyone had cleared out of the area and it was easy enough to get through. He led us towards the Gryffindor Tower, but instead of taking the stair case towards the Fat Lady, we took a stair case to a portrait of a knight in Gryffindor colors a little to the left of her. We arrived in front of it and Dumbledore turned to face us again. "You can choose this password to be anything you'd like. Choose wisely." Dumebldore smiled before turning around, and taking the stairs back to his office.

"So, what do you think?" James and I asked each other and the same time.

"Uh, why not…Godric Gryffindor?" James asked me. I shrugged my shoulders. Sirius and Peter weren't likely to guess that. Remus probably wouldn't try.

"Sounds good to me." I agreed. "Er…did you hear that?" I asked the portrait. He nodded and swung open for us without a word. We climbed through and found that it was an exact copy of the Gryffindor Common Room, just smaller. There were even the chairs in front of the fireplace and the clock above it! There were two stair cases leading to two doors. The one on the left was probably mine, since that was where the girls' dorms usually were. "I'm gonna…" I said, pointing to my door.

"Oh, I didn't even notice!" James laughed, before going up his stairs. I went up my stairs and opened the door. There was one huge bed, which was the first thing I saw. The covers were gold and red and the walls were a gold-yellow color. I figured I'd be able to change that if I wanted. There was a single window, with a large enough window sill, and I was glad for that. Looking out of it, I saw it had the same view that my room in the Gryffindor Tower had: the Quidditch Pitch. Next to the window was the closet, and I was pleased to see it was considerably larger than the one I used to have. I quickly exchanged the school robes for my muggle clothes. I crossed the room to go through the second door. It was a bathroom! It was fairly large, and I had it all to myself! It even had a tub!

"This is great, isn't it?" James said, and I jumped a foot in the air.

"Don't do that!" I shrieked, clutching at my heart. "You scared me!" James snickered. He stepped forward into my room. "Wait, you can come up here!" I realized.

"Yeah, that's pretty great, huh?" He whispered, coming closer and raising his eyebrow suggestively. I smirked.

"Very good." I agreed, meeting him in the middle. Our lips crashed together out of pure need, and boy, I'd missed this. I was glad I decided to change into my muggle clothes, and even happier James decided to do the same. He put hiss fingers in my belt buckles of my jeans and pulled me closer while I let my hands loose in his hair. He pushed me up near the closest wall and started running quick, hot kisses down my neck. He found a particularly sensitive spot near my neck, eliciting a soft moan from me. This only seemed to drive him more. He let one of his large, warm hands under my shirt, causing me to shudder slightly. He captured my mouth in his once more and we let our tongues dance together as he snaked his arm around my waist. I untangled my hands from his hair and put them on his strong chest. His hands found his way to my bare stomach and I let out a small gasp. He suddenly seemed to stop and realize what he was doing and where his hands were before slowly slipping them away from me. I took my hands off his chest and quickly pulled down my shirt. I looked back up into his eyes and they were bright, really bright. His hand flew to his hair and he gave me a sort of a half-smile. His cheeks were bright red and I just started laughing. He joined in and we were both holding on to my wall for support. What was weirder was that neither of us knew why exactly we were laughing. He managed to calm down enough to look around.

"You can see the Quidditch Pitch from this window." James observed, with a small smile on his face. I blushed, thinking of the many times I watched James as he worked out. He looked towards my bed. "It's really neat. Too neat, really." His smile started to grow as his eyes widened in anticipation. I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't. You. Dare." I warned him, moving over to my bed protectively. He took a few steps closer. I raised an eyebrow, daring him to move closer. Suddenly, he leaped up and landed stomach first on my bed. I slapped a hand to my forehead. Deciding it was time for revenge, I jumped on to my bed, too, and started tickling him. He started squirming around, trying to get away from me and trying not to laugh at the same time. He eventually caught my arms and turned us around so I was on the bed and he was above me. "You know, if you wanted on top, you could've just asked." I said, grinning widely. He rolled his eyes and went red. He plopped down next to me and started tracing circles on my hand.

"I love you." He whispered. I snuggled closer to his side.

"I love you, too." I whispered back.

Something smelled good, really good. Since when had my pillow smelled so good? Actually, since when did I have three hands? My eyes shot open and the first thing I saw was green. The second thing was a long, rather tan arm. I quickly looked myself over. I was still wearing clothes. That was a good thing. And so was James. That was even better. I peeked over him. It was already six.

"James." I whispered, nudging him slightly. He didn't even stir. "James!" I repeated, this time much louder. I frowned slightly when he only tightened his arm around me. I kissed him, which did work.

"Lily." He moaned, pulling me closer. I giggled. His eyes shot open, and once he saw me, they bugged out, and he turned red. I sat up, pulling his arm away from me. "Uh, I didn't say much, right?" He muttered, sitting up as well. I shook my head and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you talk about me much in your sleep?" I asked, leaning closer.

"Well, if you must know, it's not really talking…" He murmured. I rolled my eyes again.

"Get up. We need to get ready. Classes start today." I reminded him, and he groaned. "Come on, it's our last year."

"Yeah, until we start Auror training." He muttered, climbing off my bed. He walked to the door in a not-so straight line. "I'll see you down there." He said, closing the door behind him.

Quickly picking out my clothes, I went through my morning routine before throwing open my door once more. I paused just to take a look around, and smiled. This year was going to be great. James was going down his stairs as well, and hand-in-hand, we climbed out of the portrait hole.

"So, you ready for today?" James asked as we went down our staircase.

"Definitely." I nodded. "What about you?"

"I woke up today next to you. This day is going to be great." He said, looking fondly at me. We walked through the doors of the Great Hall to find Sirius, Remus and Peter already seated. That was surprising. I didn't think Sirius would bother to wake up this early. It was probably Remus' doing.

"Hey guys." James and I said together as we sat down.

"Hi." Remus and Peter both said, between mouthfuls of food. Sirius looked at both of us. I felt like I was being analyzed.

"Uh, Padfoot. What're-" James started

"You did it, didn't you? The dirty deed? Well, Lily-flower, you're not much of a flower anymore, are you?" Sirius asked, peering at me. I tilted my head. He was looking at me well, seriously. I took the nearest bacon strip.

"No, you arsehole! We didn't!" I screeched, throwing the bacon at him. Sirius pouted and James, Remus, and Peter laughed. I felt guilty immediately. I was Head Girl. I wasn't supposed to exhibit this kind of behavior. I looked wearily back at Sirius. But, it was kind of worth it.

A/N: Sorry about this being late! Hopefully the length will make up for it?

Review please!

Love,
SAM :)