Chapter One

Lily knew that her seventh and final year at Hogwarts was going to be the hardest yet. Not only was she just getting over the death of her parents in early March, but she had the N.E.W.T's coming up – and to add to all the stress of it, she had been chosen as Head Girl. She had tried to decline the position, politely of course, but Professor Dumbledore would hear nothing of it. The phrase he used in his last letter still made her smile when she thought of it: ”There is no other girl in the seventh year that I would entrust this position to, due to certain special circumstances that have arisen this year.” She suspected that his words were mere poppycock, meant to make her accept the position, but at least they worked.


However, she still didn't know who Head Boy was – she'd have to find out on the train, in the Prefects compartment, where the new Heads customarily gave a speech to all Prefects, old and new. She hoped it was Remus Lupin, fellow seventh-year Gryffindor – because prejudices aside, she didn't want a Slytherin Head Boy, God only knows what kind of havoc he would wreak upon the school – and the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seventh-year Prefects were all too... mundane, one might say. None of them had the authority and presence people tended to associate with Head Boys.


Lily sighed and looked down at her packing. The contents of her trunk, which she had never really unpacked before, lay on the other bed in her room and the Leaky Cauldron. After their parents had died, her sister Petunia had moved in with her fiancé, Vernon Dursley, and they had made it clear to Lily that she was not welcome to their now-marital home in Surrey. She didn't mind – that Vernon was, if possible, less pleasant than all of the Slytherins at Hogwarts put together. So when term had ended, she'd gathered her school things and the meagre belongings Tuney had sent her from their childhood home (really, nobody noticed the Undetectable Extension Charm she put on her trunk – they didn't call them undetectable for nothing) and gone to the Leaky Cauldron for the summer. Now it was all spread on her bed, and she was getting rid of stuff mercilessly. Anything she didn't need for her last year at Hogwarts or specifically want to keep was being tossed – because what could she do with them? Rent out a storage unit in London? The long stay at the Leaky Cauldron was already draining her money fast, and she still needed to buy her school books. No, everything useless would be tossed.

–––––––

The whistle sounded, warning the hordes of students and parents crowded on the platform that the Hogwarts Express would be leaving in three minutes. To Lily, however, it didn't mean anything. She had been sitting in the Prefects compartment for ten minutes now, staring out of the window at the fond farewells but not really seeing anything. The door had opened and shut a couple of times, but Lily hadn't lifted her face to meet the Prefects who entered and they had left her alone. She kept her eyes trained on the window, hoping her solitude would continue, until the train started moving, and the Head Boy finally stepped in.

Or at least, she thought it was Head Boy – since all the Prefects were already in the compartment – until she looked up, right into the glinting hazel eyes of...
“Potter. What are you doing here? Did the Head Boy send you with a message, or...?” She looked back at the window – his eyes were too distracting.
“Why yes, Evans, yes he did. His message being 'Hi, I'm head boy, mind calling me James now?'”
“You? Head Boy? Yeah, right. That's a good one... now, really. Who is it?”
“Me. I told you.”
“Potter, grow up. Who'd make you Head Boy?”
“Beats me... but come on, Evans. You and I both know I'm telling the truth.”
When Lily finally returned her gaze to Potter's, his expression held enough seriousness for her to believe that, maybe, he was right – but she couldn't imagine who, in their right mind, would award Potter of all people the position of Head Boy. “Oh, I get it now. You're the 'special circumstances' that have arisen this year,” she said with a smirk, as the realization formed in her mind.
“Beg pardon, Evans... Did you just call me special?”
“Did I – what? Wait, no. I said that you're... forget it.” Lily sighed heavily at the grin on Potter's face. Was he really that dim? And here she had thought that he generally intelligent... well, you learn something every day.
“Come on, Potter, we need to give the 'Welcome, new Prefects' speech.”
Potter stayed where he was with a panicked look on his face, until Lily grabbed his arm and physically dragged him to the front of the compartment.


“Hey, guys? Could I have your attention, please? Guys?” Lily tried to get the twenty or so Prefects in the compartment to shut up, but the rattle of the train seemed particularly loud at that moment and the teenagers just kept on exchanging summer news.
“OI!” Potter yelled suddenly. Everyone shut up at once, and Lily looked at him, impressed. “I'm Quidditch captain, remember?” he whispered. “All right, now that you've finally managed to shut your gobs for a minute –”
“Potter!” came Lily's outraged snap. “Ignore him, he's still new to the concept of being civil. Anyway, I'd like to welcome back all of you old Prefects, and congratulations to those who made it this year. I'm Lily Evans, your Head Girl, and this idiot is, unfortunately, Head Boy.”
“And this idiot does, fortunately, have a name. I'm James Potter, pleased to meet you all,” he says, with the charming smile he seemed to be able to turn on at will.


Wait, did she just call his smile charming? Lily shook her head quickly and turned her attention back to the Prefects, but not before Potter could catch the slight confusion on her face. “So, as you all probably know, the Prefects' first job of the year is patrolling the train in pairs. I've divided it into roughly four sections, so each house patrols one – take shifts of around an hour or so each. You're allowed to dock points, but do so sparingly, because abusing your privileges will get your badge taken away – this is a fact.”

The Prefects nodded and looked at her expectantly, and the fact that twenty-four Prefects and one Head Boy were all looking to her for further instruction left her speechless, for probably the first time since she'd come to Hogwarts.
“Right, well... that's it, I suppose. Have a nice journey, off you go!”


They dispersed – all except Potter, that is. Potter wouldn't go anywhere, if it gave him a chance to be alone with Lily. She sighed, waiting for the inevitable...
“Look, Evans, I'm sorry about how I've behaved these last, um, six years. But nevertheless – wouldn't want to break tradition now, would we? – could you maybe think about going to Hogsmeade with me sometime this year?”
Whoa, new developments... does Potter actually sound nervous? Lily cleared her throat and looked him in the eye.
“Look, Potter. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have absolutely no desire to become yet another notch on your bedpost. So thanks, but no thanks.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left the compartment, unwittingly tossing her hair over her shoulder in a manner that made Potter slightly weak at the knees.