Chapter One - The Unbelievable Head
James Potter awoke to sunshine shining through his window. He leaned up on one elbow to look at his clock on the bedside table. "10:30" read the display.
"It's only ten-thirty, James," he mumbled. "Go back to bed. The train doesn't leave until eleven."
He let his head drop back onto the pillow. Then, his eyces snapped open and he fell out of bed. "OH MERLIN!" he shouted. A lump on the bed across the room flew apart with a squawk, and another youth fell out of bed.
"SIRIUS! Wake up! It's ten-thirty-one! Get up! We're going to be late!" James gathered up his clothes that had been neatly laid on foot of his bed by his mother, then ran to the door and yanked it open. There was a loud CRACK and James jumped backward. Another youth was standing in the doorway, laughing.
"Hurry up, James! You too, Sirius! We're going to be late!" Remus Lupin stood there, fully dressed and neat. His trunk lay beside him, probably perfectly packed. James dashed around him to the bathroom.
Sirius had untangled himself from his sheets by now, and started pulling on plain Muggle clothes, including a pair of black pants with holes in the knees which he used for Quidditch. He then started throwing the rest of his clothes and the neat stack of books, also organized by Mrs. Potter, into his black trunk, and the sheets on the floor, onto the bed. He then enchanted his trunk to fly ahead of him and down the stairs. Remus was now descending these stairs, just so he wouldn't laugh too hard at his two friends.
James pelted out of the bathroom, his hair damp from his shower, dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of faded blue denims. Five minutes later, he came out with his trunk floating beside him and a satchel which he was trying to put over his head without strangling himself. He ran down the stairs three at a time and jumped the last six. His trunk followed him down the staircase, and his father stopped it when it reached the bottom. Mr. Potter was calmly sitting in a chair in the dining room corner, reading the Wizard newspaper, The Daily Prophet.
James kissed his mother and started eating a rushed breakfast. Sirius was eating a bit slower than his host and best friend, but he still looked groggy from the rather rude awakening.
With a glance at the watch on his wrist, James saw that they only had a handful of minutes before they really, really had to leave. He stood quickly, but before he reached his mother to say goodbye, he stopped. With a sigh, he dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged.
"Um, James? What are you doing?" asked the brown-haired woman, kneeling down beside her son.
"Just trying to relax for a moment."
"Well, I would've woken you two earlier, but considering how late that little Quidditch sparing match went last night, I figured you could use the rest."
He smiled at his mother, and looked at Sirius.
"Well, I appreciate it. The sound victory I achieved last night definitely deserved a good sleep-in," he boasted haughtily. His mother laughed when Sirius threw a piece of toast at James's head. James brushed away the crumbs, and continued talking to his mother. "Though you missed your chance to wake me up for my last first day of school, mum."
Mrs. Potter shrugged. "I'm sure I'll have another opportunity sometime or other. Perhaps this summer when you feel it necessary to sleep until two." She reached down to help him off the hardwood floor. He hugged and kissed her again, and then ran over to his Dad and hugged him as well. He Accio-ed his broom as he walked over to his trunk and stood next to his two best friends. "I love you!" he said to his parents, who were smiling and shaking their heads at their dear and only son, gave a quarter turn and, with a loud crack, Disapparated.
A thin red-headed girl stepped onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, and smiled at the sight that greeted her. A deep red steam engine stood huffing on the rails. Children were hanging out the windows, saying their last goodbyes. A few smaller children, most likely first years, clung to their parents. Lily came out of her reverie when someone bumped into her from behind.
"Ouch!" she said, spinning around to see whose trunk or trolley had bumped into her ankles. Three boys stood behind her; the one who had bumped into her was smiling his trademark smirk. "Potter, watch where you're pushing that stupid trunk!"
James Potter was the type of boy whom Lily despised. In fact, he was the very boy she despised. He was arrogant, rude, and full of himself. Lily would not allow herself to be brought under by this tall black-haired, hazel-eyed wizard. She disliked him greatly; any of her friends would be able to tell you that much.
The two boys standing behind him were just as handsome, Lily admitted to herself; Sirius Black looked much like James, except for his dark eyes. His was the same height, but not as thin. Remus Lupin was the smartest one of the group, in Lily's opinion, and possessed a quiet charm that more than made up for his lack of arrogant, breathtaking features that some young men thought they possessed. Remus was a prefect and she hoped the new Head Boy.
(Lily Evans was the most beautiful girl James had ever seen. She had bright auburn hair and eyes the color of emeralds. James thought that she was so wonderful, not only for her amazing looks, but for the genius that was found inside her brain, and the bravery that got her a rightful place in Gryffindor. She stood up for herself and James loved her for that. He had been trying to get her to go out with him for a very long time, but she either said no right away, or slapped him and then said no. Or said no, then slapped him, and then said no again. The last time he had asked her, the handprint hadn't gone away for three days. Moony and Padfoot enjoyed teasing him about that. James figured she must've enchanted it somehow.)
"Sorry, Evans. Maybe you should move away from the barrier if you don't want to be run over by people coming through," said Potter with a chuckle. Lily rolled her eyes, exhaled sharply and turned around. She heard behind her a smack and some mumbling, which happened to be James wondering why he had just said such a stupid thing.
"LILY!" shouted two girls at the same time. Two girls in Muggle attire came running to Lily. They threw their arms about Lily and hugged her.
"Oh!" she said as she was squeezed. "Josey," she said, addressing the blonde, "How are you? And you, Nikeia?" now addressing the taller girl with long black hair. The girls smiled.
"We're doing fine! And what about you?" asked Nikeia. All three girls smoothed out their clothing, and made sure they also looked fine. Nikeia's denim skirt and white tank top, and Josey's flared blue pants and jacket caused them to look very much like very lucky Muggles.
"Oh, I'm doing wonderful now!" she said, as she smoothed her rumpled long-sleeved white shirt and her baggy green pants.
"What about that sister of yours? Is she finally being nice?" asked Josey. "By the way, I love these pants" she said, tugging at the pocket in a playful manner.
Lily laughed and shook her head. "No, Petunia still-" She was unable to finish her sentence as the warning whistle for the train sounded. "Dumbledore and Merlin!" exclaimed Lily. She, with the help of her friends, pulled her luggage off the trolley, which was then pushed away by a kind man returning to Platform 9. After calling "Thank you!" over her shoulder, they got her trunk onto the train and started walking down the passage.
"Lily, we're over here," said Nikeia, tugging Lily's sleeve toward the front. They walked along the train and finally deposited the trunk on the floor of a compartment. With a sly smile to her two friends, Lily bent down and opened the large trunk.
"What are you doing?" asked Josey, her eyebrows lifted in confusion.
Lily pulled something from the trunk, and hid it behind her back as she stood and turned.
"What?" asked her two friends.
"Well, it's not much, but I got a letter over the summer."
"Did you?" asked Nikeia and Josey at the same time.
"Yes," Lily said, biting her lip over her smile.
"Was it-" the two girls asked, and Lily could tell they were attempting to hide their excitement.
Lily smiled and pulled the shiny Head Girl badge out from behind her back. Nikeia and Josey squealed with joy at the badge, and Lily smiled.
"Of course you'd get it!" cried Nikeia amid her laughter.
"Nonsense! There are smarter girls than-" Lily caught the look her two friends were giving her and stopped talking. She shrugged and then said, "I'll talk to you two later. I have to go up front to the Prefects compartment."
Right then, the train gave a lurch and they started on their journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For some, like the three girls sharing a compartment, it was their final journey by train.
Lily put on her black robe, but didn't bother buttoning it up. She fastened the badge on her chest, walked to a compartment at the head of the train, and waited for the Head Boy to show up. When Remus passed by the window, she was surprised that he took a seat in one of the Prefects' compartments. Her eyebrows furrowed and she wondered.
Then, the conceited Potter showed up a few minutes later, his hands in his pockets and his robe thrown carelessly open, at the Head's compartment. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Potter, your friends are farther down the train. Why don't you find them and start working on a prank?" she said huffily.
Potter merely chuckled and straightened his robe. There, on the front of his robe, next to the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain badge, shone the Head Boy badge.
Lily gasped.
"Congratulations, Evans; I always knew you would be the best in our year. Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are that I'm Head Boy."
Potter entered the compartment and sat down, putting his feet on the seat across from him. Lily slumped against the her seat.
"You? Head Boy? Very funny, Potter. Did you steal that badge from Remus?"
"No, I didn't, Evans." And to prove his point, he pulled from the pocket of his pants a folded piece of parchment. He handed it to Lily. She snatched it from his hands and looked at the address on the front.
Second Bedroom, Potter Manor
Seventeen Victoria Drive
Birmingham, England
Lily glanced up at Potter, who was smiling. She opened the letter, read a bit, and gasped. It indeed said that HE, James Potter, was Head Boy of Hogwarts. He had not been a prefect the previous two years—Remus had been the other Gryffindor prefect. How had James become the Head Boy? Especially with his dislike and disregard of rules and regulations?
She folded the letter back up and flipped it at Potter.
"Hurry up, then, we have to go and talk to the prefects." She'd talked to Dumbledore and McGonagall later about this outrage. She slid the compartment door open with a slam and walked across the hall to the new prefects' compartment.