As she looked over the information she would be discussing with the prefects, Lily Evans ran her fingers through her hair and let out a small sigh. This was her last year at Hogwarts, her home for the past six years, and it seemed as though she would hardly be able to savor the time she had left. She could already feel herself slipping into her compulsive mode, going over her list of things to do that year, trying to figure out how she would organize her schedule. Being Head Girl would just take more time from her studies, and with N.E.W.T.s in nine months, she would need all the study time she could get. How could she possibly pass such challenging tests if she didn’t have enough time each night to go over past notes after finishing her daily assignments? And how would she ever be able to make time for her friends?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to the prefect compartment opened, and she turned her head quickly, tossing her long, auburn hair to the side. ‘Great,’ she thought instantly, her natural, sarcastic reaction to the person who had just entered. She looked down, closed her eyes and pressed her first two fingers on each hand to her temples. ‘I should have known he would be the first person I would see.’ She looked back to the tall, messy-haired boy, hoping to speak before he had his chance to do what he had done everyday for the past six years: ask her out.

“Potter, if you’re looking for Remus, he hasn’t arrived yet.�

“That’s all right, I wasn’t looking for him.�

A sarcasm-filled ‘fantastic,’ played its way across her mind, as she realized why he must be there. She turned back to him, her annoyance rising as she noticed him ruffling his hair. “Well if you’re going to ask me out, you already know my answer,� she replied, going back to her papers as she finished the sentence, trying to review the new rules for the year before the prefects arrived.

“I’m not.�

The two words completely threw her off, and she quickly turned back to him. What else could he possibly want?

“Then why are you here?� she asked, too puzzled to remember to add the slight edge to her question.

“Well Evans, the meeting starts in ten minutes, so I figured I’d be early so we could go over what we need to discuss with the prefects.�

Her eyes darted to his chest, dreading what she might see, but knowing as soon as she heard the word “meeting� what she would find: the Head Boy badge. It seemed to taunt her, light from the window gleaming off the red and gold piece of metal on his toned chest. How could Potter, the arrogant, lazy, Quidditch-obsessed bully be made Head Boy? Was Headmaster Dumbledore nuts?

“I know what you’re thinking, and no, I didn’t take this from Remus. I really am Head Boy,� he told her simply, completely ignoring the fact that she had insulted him by refusing to think he would be given the badge.

“What?! Has Dumbledore gone off his rocker?! Why would he make you, of all people, Head Boy?! I mean, you get detention so often the teachers have set up a weekly plan for who can give you lines each night. Is this some kind of sick joke? Or maybe I’ve done something wrong? Did Dumbledore and McGonagall decide this was the best way to punish me?� She stopped her yelling, breathing heavily and trying to contemplate what she had done that she would deserve this, when the object of her confusion spoke up.

“Well it’s nice to know you have some confidence in your new partner. Now, if you’re done having your little attack, maybe we should at least look over the new rules before the prefects get here. We only have a couple of minutes before the meeting starts.� But as he finished his sentence, the compartment door opened and students began entering in pairs, discussing their summers. Lily, still a tad perplexed, had to quickly gain her composure so she could conduct the meeting. Obviously Potter wasn’t going to be any help, and her year had just become much more complicated – she would now have to perform all the Head duties, not just hers. How did she end up with such an unreliable partner? But her thoughts were again interrupted by Potter’s voice.

“Hi everyone, hope you all had good summers. My name is James Potter, I’ll be your Head Boy this year. And this is Lily Evans,� he said, pointing behind him, “she’s the new Head Girl.�

She did her best to smile, annoyed that he had thought she was incapable of introducing herself, before speaking. “Welcome back everyone. Each of you will be doing patrols twice a week, and you’ll need to sign up for the nights that best fit your schedule on a sheet that will be placed in your common rooms. Make sure you get signed up this week, we need to start patrols as soon as possible.� The meeting continued as such for the next half hour, with Lily continuously impressed with James’ manner.

‘He didn’t even sound as if he was trying to give them orders,’ she noted as the prefects left. She sat down, with James across from her, looking out the window as she remembered her reasons for hating him. It had started in first year, when he and his equally annoying best friend, Sirius Black, had attacked Severus Snape and some of his friends, their only reason being “He deserved it.� Now Snape wasn’t exactly Lily’s favorite person, as he was more than rude to her, but he shouldn’t have been attacked simply because Potter felt he should be delivering punishments to all he disliked. Potter’s superior attitude had only become worse over the years, especially after making the Gryffindor House Quidditch team as seeker in their second year. She shuddered as she thought of him playing with the snitch, running his hands through his stupid hair, and asking her out constantly, thinking one of those days he would finally win her over and could move on to the next girl. That was all she was to him anyway, the girl he couldn’t have. ‘And it’s going to stay that way,’ she told herself, having just thought of some of his more annoying qualities. ‘But during that meeting, he acted almost ...’ No, she wouldn’t let herself say it. Mature was the one word she would not label James Potter, the word she couldn’t associate with the name that made her temper flare, the face that could have her yelling in seconds, those amazing eyes that were looking at her at that very instant ...

Lily was brought back to reality as she realized James had been staring at her during her whole thought process. “What?� she snapped.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, just thinking,� he responded quickly, automatically running his hand through his hair. She was about to lecture him for staring at her, how rude, when she realized the slight pink on his cheeks. Since when did James Potter blush? Was he actually embarrassed to be caught staring at her? And, whoa, had she just referred to his eyes as ‘amazing?’ With a slight “uh-oh� she could only wish he didn’t hear, she got up quickly and left the compartment to find someone who could get her thoroughly confused mind off of James Potter.




James sighed, watching his green-eyed beauty walk away. Okay, so she wasn’t really his. But she would be, one day.

He walked out of the Head Compartment and began searching for his friends. He could hear a loud voice coming from a compartment three doors away, and knew immediately who he would find as the source.

“And really, the snitch had been right under Ireland’s beater the whole time!� a tall boy with black, perfectly tousled hair was yelling as James entered, not surprised in the least to see his best friend waving his arms frantically. He turned to see Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, their other close friends, and greeted them with a smile. “So how are my fellow Marauders this fine afternoon?� he questioned, referring to the name the four had taken on two years ago.

“Lily shoot you down again?� Remus, the most studious of the boys, asked simply, without bothering to look over his book. The other boys turned to him, slightly taken aback.

“How did you know I was upset about Lily?� James asked, completely lost. Hadn’t he had covered up his slight pain from his recent encounter with the love of his life with his dashing smile and enthusiastic question?

“Oh, come on,� Remus looked at Sirius, then Peter, slightly surprised. “You’re telling me that after six years with this boy you still can’t tell when he is upset because of Lily? You two are more pathetic than I thought,� he finished, shaking his head as he turned back to his book. By this point James’ mind had already wandered back to his previous thoughts of the one girl he couldn’t seem to get. He sighed, and decided to explain his problems to his friends, hoping they would finally have the advice he needed. “It’s not so much that she rejected me, really, it’s that I acted completely mature and she didn’t even notice.�

Now it was his turn to have surprised looks thrown his way. Of course he didn’t have to suffer the stares for long, as they were soon interrupted by fits of laughter.

“Right Prongs,� Sirius managed to get out between laughs. “You ... haha ... mature ... There’s just ... hahaha ... no way ...� he finally finished, barely able to get the words out.

“I’ve got to agree with Padfoot, Prongs,� Remus commented, still chuckling, and calling both Sirius and James by their Marauder nicknames. “You’ve never been one to act very mature. In fact,� he added, his laughing stopping abruptly as his thoughts began to wander, “you’ve never been one to act even remotely mature, come to think of it ...�

James looked at Sirius and Peter, still laughing hysterically on the floor, and then to Remus, who had gone back to his reading, letting out a laugh every so often. ‘So this was why Lily didn’t notice,’ he thought. ‘She must have figured it was some stupid joke. I’m going to have to show her that I really have grown up, I really am more mature.’ He looked out the window, ignoring his still laughing friends, completely determined to prove to Lily once and for all that he could be everything she wanted.