AN: This chapter has a dash of everything. Some fluff, minor James/Lily disagreements and also a bit of Sirius/OC that's mainly set up for later. If you want some cute-fluffiness re-read Chapter 19, there's a new section I added that was supposed to be there when I first published the chapter. It helps the story flow better now. Please review!

Summer was coming to a closer all too fast. Diagon Alley was a rather ordinary expedition that James and Lily used as a chance to occupy any deserted corners they could find. It was three days before they were leaving for Hogwarts and everyone was packing up, getting ready to head home to spend time with their families.

Sirius sat in the study with everyone else, watching as the girls hugged and said their goodbyes. James stood close to Lily, ever since the day they had gotten their letters their relationship got even more peculiar. Remus told him it was nothing, but the two were practically attached at the hip.

"I left the book I was reading in your room," Athena told Lily as Alice climbed into the fireplace. Quickly she scurried out the room. Making a split decision, Sirius followed her up the stairs. He stood in the doorway to Lily's room as she searched underneath the bed. When she got up, she paled. "Sirius," she said.

"When are we going to talk?" he asked.

"About what?" she asked, rather coyly, her book tucked beneath her arm as she tried to walk past Sirius. He grabbed her arm. "Please, just…"

"I thought you were different, but you won't even look at me since…" Sirius looked at the girl in front of him. The girl he had resisted for years just to rebel against his parents. At Hogwarts they barely acknowledged each other; Athena drifted into her own little group of older Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. However, at home it was a different story. Whenever he wasn't at James', his parents would always invite over 'good families' that would have a 'positive influence'. Athena was the only girl that remotely intrigued him. She was a pretty pureblood, though her family wasn't Slytherin, but Ravenclaw. They claimed to be descendants from Rowena herself and had pretty good proof of it.

"It's not that I don't want to, my parents are a lot like yours. Getting sorted into Gryffindor was almost too much for them, you know that."

"I do, but you're of age now."

"That doesn't matter," Athena said. "I can't turn my back on them, I love them. Sirius, I may not agree with them, but my parents are different than yours."

"Fine, then date me."

"I can't, don't you understand?" Her hand reached up to grab his face to make him look her straight in the eyes. "Alice and Frank, we're not them. James and Lily? I'm not strong like her. She's a true Gryffindor, the sorting hat was going to place me in Ravenclaw, but it puts you with the House whose traits you admire most. Bravery is one of those, you have it, I don't." She shook her head. "I'm not even going to try with you. I promised my parents after what happened to you I wouldn't associate with you. I didn't know you'd be here."

"This is my home, everyone knows that."

"My parents didn't. I respect their wishes and...Don't tell anyone this but after graduation I'm leaving England."

"What?"

"They don't want me here." Her eyes flitted across the room, trying to avoid his gaze. "They are sending me to one of those Universities in Eastern Europe and hoping I attract the right type of man. I know they want me to get married before I go, but with the war...Things are changing left and right."

"You're wrong."

"What?"

"Stay, stay in England. Tell your parents to sod off."

"I don't have any money and most of my friends-"

"I have money, my uncle made me his heir when he died. We could get an apartment-"

"No." Athena's voice was firm, she took a step back from him and, as she went in the hall, she froze. "James."

"I came up here because Sirius followed you up," he said. "Lily was going to come up, but he's-"

"It was nothing," she murmured. "Thank your parents for me again."

James watched in curiosity as she attempted a smile, the action very forced. He also noticed his best friend with his hands balled into fist as he leaned against the door frame to Lily's room. "Let's go downstairs, the everyone's gone and Lily'll spend the afternoon reading."

James watched as Sirius took a deep breath and walked towards the stairs, then down them before taking a turn to go outside.

"Merlin, Lily, why do I have to wear my uniform on the train?" James questioned as Lily adjusted his tie. Today was their final first day of Hogwarts, they would board the train for the last time, but this year they would do it together.

"You're Head Boy, you need all the respect you can get," she answered, before planting both hands on his shoulder and spinning him around to face the mirror in her room. Standing behind him she rested her head on his shoulder and grinned. "Besides, I love a man in uniform."

"What a coincidence, that's how I love my women."

"You only have one, if you didn't…" her voice trailed off as her eyes narrowed as the focused on James' chest in the mirror. "Where's your badge?"

He pointed to his Captain badge proudly displayed on his robes.

"The other one," she said, reaching across to dig into the pocket of his robe.

"Mum and dad want us downstairs in five, so stop your snogging," Sirius commanded as he walked over dragging James by the sleeve of his robe, Lily gripping him tightly as she followed the two. She wondered if it would always be like this. It wasn't that she didn't like Sirius, but it seemed to her that James and him were a package deal.

It wasn't long before they were at Kings Cross and had to make their goodbyes. Lily made her hugs with Charles and Agatha long, giving them each a kiss on the cheek before James dragged her away from his parent making some comment about charming them. Sirius did the same, and James rolled his eyes managing the shrunken trunks of both his and Lily, while she held onto his arm.

"Have you seen Marlene and Alice? Or Athena?" she asked both of the boys. James craned his neck to search, but Sirius just stiffened at the last name. "Are you ever going to tell us why you followed Athena up the stairs?"

"Lily we better board the train," James said. She frowned and would have pulled on his arm, but she saw the look him and Sirius were sharing.

"Of course, I take it our stuff is staying with you?" she questioned Sirius. "And I know it'll be a tight fit, but get my friends in the compartment too." She added this mainly because she wanted to see the interaction between Sirius and Athena. Besides, Alice didn't have Frank this year and Marlene would probably end up on a fifth years lap by the end of the train ride if she wasn't busy yelling at Sirius.

"See you in a few, mate," James said as they found an empty compartment and arranged their trunks on the luggage rack. With now free hands he interlaced his fingers with Lily. As they walked they received looks, which was odd to Lily because they had been together at the end of the school girl. "Head Girl status," James whispered to her. "And you have incredibly dashing Gryffindor Quidditch Captain on your arm."

Lily just laughed as she walked forward to the end of the corridor where Olivia was about ready to enter the room, the Ravenclaw turned around when she saw Lily. "Congrats on Head Girl," she said. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody but you."

"Thank you."

"Jamie?" she said with a teasing edge to her voice. "As cute as it is that you can't detach yourself from her, this compartment is only for Prefects." She pointed to her badge.

"Darn it," he said. "Well, I'm not a prefect, but I think this will do." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his Head Boy badge.

"Did Remus agree to go along with this? He's already in there wearing his Senior Prefect badge."

"It's his," Lily assured her. "I promise."

"What's this world coming to?" she questioned with a tsking sound as the three of them entered the room. Most everyone was in here and eyed James warily as Lily led him in, clutching his hand like a life preserver. They took a seat on one of the benches on the wall.

As they waited for everyone to come in, James hand released Lily and he put an arm around her shoulder. If Lily didn't know better, she would think the ever-arrogant James Potter was nervous. She, however, ignored and began to chat with those around her. James watched with a smirk on his face seeing his girlfriend in her element. Once the train started she took a deep breath and turned to him. "That's your cue."

"My cue? I thought my job was to stand here and look incredibly handsome. You're the brains, I'm the brawns."

"They know me, they don't know you. Pretend they're the Quidditch team."

"Lily," he whined. "I can't treat them like the Quidditch team. That involves cursing, threats and making the youngest ones on the team cover their ears so I don't corrupt their innocent minds."

"They're fifth years and up, so…"

"Fine." He got to his feet, running a hand through his hair as he paced around the room. "In case you haven't heard the rumors, I'm Head Boy. No, I didn't steal Remus' badge or am some sort of lovesick boyfriend...You're stuck with me for the duration of the year and I'm going to be brutally honest, I don't know what the hell I'm doing." He laughed as he looked around the room. "I guess that's why I have Lily. If you didn't know I am dreadful at doing things by myself, all those winning Quidditch plays...I didn't write them single handedly, you can thank Peter for that."

"While I may not know what I'm doing, you're just going to have to trust me. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, but that's because people tell me that screwing up is fine as long as I learned from my mistakes. I'm done with that though. I'm not perfect, but I'll sure as hell try to be. Although, the only thing I know how to do is run a Quidditch team and I think most of you can agree I do that pretty damn well. If I do that I need cooperation, honesty and a bit of open-mindness. That being said there's always Lily."

She got to her feet and stood beside him, standing to her full height, which was James' nose. "Now, that the inspirational speech is done, let's talk business…"

The sorting ceremony and welcome back feast was much the same as every year. Lily spent the time laughing with the members from her house she hadn't seen in a weeks. It was nice to be back, so different from last year when she still felt lost. Now, she was at Hogwarts with a Head Girl badge pinned to her chest and a boyfriend sitting too close for decency's sake. In a year she had no idea where she'd be, but she wanted to remember this moment and closed her eyes.

"Tired?" James' voice tickled her ear as he leaned forward.

"No," she answered, opening her eyes.

"The first years left, we can go at any time."

"No, she can't," Marlene objected as Lily's other two roommates giggled. "I'm happy that you're Head Girl, but that means we have an empty bed and no Lily."

"Marlene," Alice calmly began. "It means that there will only be three beds and additional room."

"As much as I like you Lil, I'm happy that there's more closet space," Athena said while waving around a piece of pie on her fork. "Promise to come visit."

"I'm still a Gryffindor, and who can stand being alone with James?" she joked, but grabbed her boyfriend's arm and leaned even closer practically putting herself in his lap. This earned them a napkin being thrown by Sirius. "Do you want to do that to the Head Girl?"

"Just did, sweetheart," he retorted with a lazy grin. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing," James replied, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Let's go."

"This isn't exactly-"

He gave her a quick kiss. Lily pulled away and rolled her eyes before murmuring goodnight to everyone around them. They had been given slips of paper with the instructions to the room and the password to get in, that they would only be able to read. It wasn't long before they came to the portrait of a very dignified woman. "Password?" she asked in a cool, even tone.

"Lemon sherbert," Lily read off the paper, a smile crossing her face as she was positive that Dumbledore got to pick the first password.

"Enter," the woman replied as the portrait hole opened. James let Lily go forth and followed her in.

"Wow," he said, "but where are the beds?"

"Sitting room for Prefect meetings," Lily explained as she gestured to the couches. "Looks like they re-did it in Gryffindor colors. Last year the heads were Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, looked like a disaster." She sighed. "I'm going to unpack, then turn in. We have an early morning tomorrow."

"Yeah," James said.

When Lily came out of her room forty five minutes later, James was sitting in the couch still in uniform, or at least partway. His socks and shoes; belt and tie; and robe were all missing, he was only in a t-shirt and slacks. "Testing out the couches?"

"I didn't know if I could come in your room."

"It really doesn't matter to me," she said. "You're more than welcome to test it out."

"No," he said. "After tonight I wasn't sure if I was allowed to touch you."

Lily let out a chuckle and sat down beside him. "You can be so dramatic at times, James. I didn't want-"

"Come on, you were practically in my lap all night and then-"

"We just need to set an example in front of the others," Lily said. "I shouldn't have overreacted, but it was nice tonight. Everything just feels, right, you know?"

"Yeah," he said. "Listen, I know we have our own rooms and we're not supposed to...how do they put it? Fraternize?" he asked. "But my bed is too big for one person and you're room looks awfully drafty…"

With a roll of her eyes she grabbed his hand and tugged him toward his bedroom. She half expected an invisible wall to be there, but she walked right through the doorway and released James' hand as she collapsed on the bed. Shutting her eyes, she ignored whatever James was doing and curled up on her side. By the time he turned around he saw her fast asleep.

"What am I going to do with you?" he questioned and walked over, scooping her into his arms. "You are so very lucky that you are this light," he whispered to her, struggling to pull back the covers one handed and not drop her, before he realized he could use magic. Setting her on the right side of the bed he muttered a few words, turning off the lights and curled around her. As he got closer to sleep he felt Lily move around a bit, her hand enclosing around his. James smirked, wondering if did this in her sleep or if she was playing him. Although, it didn't really matter either way. He thought back to what she said about everything feeling right, perhaps for once in a long time things would be going their way.

When James awoke in the morning he rolled onto his left side and stuck out an arm. There was nothing there. The bed was mostly cold, the covers tossed aside. "Lily?" he called out as he groped the nightstand for his glasses. By the time he stumbled out of bed and towards his door, he saw Lily fully dressed and ready flouncing around the living room. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Breakfast starts in ten minutes, we're supposed to be there early to help prefects hand out schedules and we-"

"Can you please use shorter sentences until I'm awake?" He rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses up his face and let out a yawn. "I'll be dressed in five…" Stumbling a bit he retreated back to his room and, true to his word, he reemerged dressed with his book bag hanging off his shoulder.

"James, is that exactly what you wore yesterday?" She stepped forward to help adjust his tie and smooth out the rumpled robe. "You really shouldn't leave your clothes on the floor, they'll wrinkle."

"Yes, mother, can we go?" he asked dryly, taking her bag as well before grabbing her hand.

"I am perfectly capable of carrying my bag." She said and held out her free hand.

"I was raised to be a gentleman, but take it, are you hoarding bricks?" He swung it over to her dramatically.

"Funny," Lily said and kissed his cheek. "Let's go if Sirius or Marlene beats us to the Great Hall, the innuendos will never stop."

"Uh huh," he replied.

"Honestly, are you ever fully awake before nine?" she questioned as they came to the Great Hall. Hardly no one was there since classes didn't start for another hour, still they situated themselves at the table. Lily filled a plate and poured a cup of tea while James slumped forward, resting his head on his forearms.

She ate in silence and James finally sat up, pouring himself a glass of water and heaping his plate with bacon and eggs. Soon enough her old roommates came, followed by Remus and a conversation was struck. Eventually Sirius and Pete came down, acting much like James did. Everything was fine until a first year came up to James.

"Excuse me-"

"Who are you?" he asked the boy, turning in his seat.

"Uh...I'm a Gryffindor."

"No, who are you?"

"Ricky Fredrickson," he replied with curious eyes.

"Ignore him," Lily interrupted. "What was your question?"

"It was about Potions," he said. "I heard-"

"Sorry, to interrupt, but your first class is Charms, Potions begin on Wednesday. Everything should be clarified by then, is that good enough?" she questioned. "I didn't mean to be rude." She presented him with a disarming smile and the boy just nodded. "Good, now James here is good to talk to most of the time, just avoid him in the mornings and the night before Quidditch games."

The boy just managed a smile before scurrying away to a group of first years that began laugh when he came back and she swore there were coins being passed around. "Look, a group of mini-Marauders," she said affectionately and then turned to Sirius. "Stay away from them."

"No promises, sweet cheeks." The long haired boy replied. Lily rolled her eyes and James patted her shoulder. It was just like home.