Chapter 2: A Letter and Conversations
They next day, James sat on his bed, legs curled up to his chest and an expression of horror written plainly on his features. By his side, Sirius patted him sympathetically.
He held in his hands a letter, written in ink that was similar to the letters he'd received from school numerous times before. At the same time, it seemed to him the most unfamiliar and foreign letter that he'd ever received. It read:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been made Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the school year of 1977-1978.
On September first, your first duty as Head Boy, along with the Head Girl, is to report to the prefect carriage on the Hogwarts Express and instruct new prefects as to their duties. For the rest of the journey, you will also be expected to patrol the corridors. The privilege of being Head Boy should be taken seriously, and we look forward to a safe and productive school year!
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
"I can't believe it, Padfoot." James croaked, "I--what have I done to deserve it?"
"Send it back, Prongs old friend." Sirius replied, looking as though someone he'd loved very much had just died, "They must have made a mistake."
"No." James whispered, "Look, it says my name on it, here…and here…" he pointed to the envelope and letter.
"It's not a mistake. Dumbledore's finally gone completely mad."
"Send it back." Sirius repeated, "It's not worth it. Tell them to make Moony do it."
"What if they have Snape do it?"
Severus Snape was also in their year, and a Slytherin prefect. His marks were excellent, and they knew that Snape had a much more severe approach in his prefect duties than the easygoing Remus. Sirius buried his head in his arms at the thought.
"Either way, it's all over." James said, "Six years of troublemaking, made completely worthless."
"It's absolutely sick." Sirius agreed, "It's cruel, it's…" His eyes widened in horror.
"Dumbledore knew he was doing this!" he cried, horrified, "He knew, he knew we couldn't-- if you were-- and he's--" Sirius stopped, his rage too great to be expressed in words.
James flopped back on the bed, and attempted to use one of his crimson pillows to smother himself.
"At least…at least they've made you Quidditch captain too." Sirius sighed, spreading himself out next to James and picking up another letter that had been in the envelope, "Though it's probably a further attempt to distract you from pranking."
"They can't do it." was James's muffled reply. "I won't let them do this to me."
"But they already have." came a voice from the doorway, "It's too late to stop it."
James and Sirius craned their necks to see who it was. There stood Remus Lupin, their brown-haired, tall, and skinny friend. If possible, he was looking taller and more underfed than ever.
"Moony!" Sirius called, as James buried his head in the pillow once more, "Here I thought I could hear your sobs of disappointment all the way across England. How the bloody hell are you?"
"Surviving." Remus said, a wide grin spread over his face, "Congratulations on your new position, Potter."
"Sod off, you unfeeling werewolf." James replied, "Show some compassion."
"You'll kill yourself if you keep your head in that pillow, and while that may be your objective, I'd prefer not to witness a suicide while I'm in the room. All that questioning gets so tiresome."
"And he'd know, James, you know he would." Sirius said, looking much more cheerful than he had before. He got up and gave Remus a brotherly hug.
"Haven't seen you all summer, mate." he said. "Been on holiday meeting lovely girls, I hope?"
"Actually, I've been trying to find a job." Remus said. He followed Sirius and sat on the bed next to him. James lifted his head and asked drearily,
"What for? Isn't life depressing enough?"
"It'll take time to find a job that'll accept werewolves." Remus said, smiling tiredly, "And I won't be able to move into a flat, the neighbors would get suspicious. Somehow I have to get the money for a house of my own."
"I'll give you the money." James and Sirius said at the same time. They glanced at each other, and then at Remus expectantly.
"No thank you." Remus said, "I'd prefer to earn it myself."
"Don't be a prat, Remus--"
"Sirius, you haven't got money." he said calmly, "You left everything you had when you left home."
Sirius snorted derisively.
"Some home." he said, "I'd be more than happy to go back and burgle it."
"No. And as for you, James…" Remus struggled for a reason why not to accept it, and, not finding one, said, "No. Just no."
Seeing that Remus wouldn't change his mind, James and Sirius went quiet.
"So," James said finally, "how did you get here?"
"My dad was looking for a new job." he said, "Something closer to his girlfriend's house."
James and Sirius exchanged looks again. Remus's mother had died the previous year from cancer, and his father had started dating not long afterwards. Remus had never quite forgiven him for it, and in general, they tried to avoid the subject.
"Er- well-" James wracked his brain for a way to change the subject, and seized upon the first thing he could think of.
"Do you know who Lily Evans is?"
Remus's face brightened a little.
"Yeah. Why do ask?"
"I didn't know who she was."
Remus raised his eyebrows.
"She's been prefect with me for two years."
"Well, that's what she said." James said uncomfortably, "I never noticed."
"Jamie keeps talking about her." Sirius said, grinning wickedly, "I think he's enamored."
"I've talked about her twice, Sirius." James replied, irritated. "Just want to know who she is, is all." He turned back to Remus, "She was riding a bicycle by my house yesterday, and she said to say hello to you." He rolled his eyes, "Maybe she's enamored with you."
Remus laughed.
"She's been trying to set me up with a girl in her dormitory since I first met her." he said, "I highly doubt it."
"So, why don't we know who she is?" Sirius asked, flopping backwards on top of James, making him grunt and cough, "Is she really as ugly as all that?"
"No." Remus replied thoughtfully, "She's actually quite good looking. It's probably because she's friends with Severus."
James's eyebrows shot up, but his surprise was nothing compared to Sirius's.
"She's friends with SNIVELLUS?" Sirius cried, bolting up, "What? Snivellus doesn't have friends! Why didn't you mention this before, Lupin?"
"She's nice. She keeps to herself, mostly."
"It's an outrage. She's in Gryffindor, and she's fraternizing with the enemy. We've got to sort her out. At least make her pay for giving Sniv a friend." He shivered at the thought.
James said nothing, but he felt slightly uncomfortable. Sirius's eyes were blazing with new passion, and if he knew anything about his best friend, Lily Evans would soon regret ever having met James.
***
Two days later, after Remus had left and he and Sirius had concluded that his attempts at escaping being Head Boy were hopeless, James was sitting on the front porch. He had carefully made sure that Sirius would be busy that afternoon, and though he pretended to be reading Quidditch Through the Ages, he was keeping an eye out for a certain red haired girl. Several times he told himself he was being stupid-who was to say that she would even come again?-but after an hour or so she came, riding the yellow bike and wearing a green tee shirt and jeans. When she got close enough, he called out to her.
"Hi!" she said, stopping her bike and smiling, "It's you again!"
"Yeah," he replied, running a hand through his hair. Abruptly, he asked, "Are you friends with Snivellus?"
"Who?"
"Snape."
"Oh, Severus! Yes, I am. So you do know who I am!" She frowned a little. "Why did you call him Snivellus?"
"Er- It's not important." He said, shaking his head. "Listen, just-"
"I think it is." she interrupted, "I want to know why you called him that." She kicked the kickstand on her bike and let it stand alone. She crossed her arms and looked up at James, who was at least full head taller than her, "He's my best friend, and I don't understand why you talk about him that way."
James didn't like at all the feeling that she was questioning him. He pulled a cigarette out of his back pocket, lit it, and started to smoke irritably. She watched him, her nose working hard not to wrinkle.
"You should stop being friends with him." James said finally, throwing the butt on the ground and stomping on it. "You'll be sorry if you don't."
At this, she raised eyebrows and smirked.
"Is that a threat?"
"Not from me!" he said, practically shouting. She took a step back and looked away.
"I'm serious though." he said, talking quieter and making sure Sirius hadn't heard, "You'll understand someday. You just… you shouldn't"
She smiled at him again, though it looked a little more forced.
"Thank you for your concern." she said, her hands slowly reaching for her bike, "I appreciate it, but I'll take my chances with whatever will happen. I've made it for six years."
He watched her kick up the kickstand, climb her bike, and start to ride away, feeling a mixed sense of annoyance and admiration. Surprising himself, he said suddenly,
"Wait!"
This caused Lily to wobble and eventually fall off her bike. James walked up to her, and felt exactly as he had the first day she fell off her bicycle.
"You really are hopeless on that bike." he said.
She looked up at him deliberately, and said,
"Aren't you going to help me up?"
"No."
Instead of reaching for his hand as she had before, Lily pushed herself up.
"What did you want to say, James?"
"Would you--I mean--did you want to come inside, for a minute or two?"
She looked surprised.
"Alright." she said finally. She followed him in, and as she did so, she gasped.
The Potters' home, though it looked somewhat large on the outside, was even bigger on the inside. It was grand and almost reminiscent of a palace, decorated with reds and golds, sweeping rugs and marble floors. Mirrors lined the wall of the main hall, where they had entered, and there was a large and formidable glass chandelier. For about a minute she stared, shock written all over her face. Then she ran back outside, and James, confused, went after her.
She was simply staring at the outside of the house, and when she saw him, she pointed.
"It's--on the outside, it looks like a house--but on the inside, it's like--" She ran back inside, and James started to hold back a laugh.
"It's like a palace." she sighed. She stared at him, wide eyed.
"It's lovely." she said after a moment, regaining her composure, "It's probably done by a spell, right?"
James couldn't restrain himself anymore. He laughed loudly, and Lily waited for him to finish, her expression amused.
"Better?" she asked when he was done.
"What do you mean?"
"Well--excuse my saying so--but you've been acting rather strange, and I didn't know if it was in your nature. This just proves you are human, after all."
"What? That makes no sense!"
She sighed.
"You'll find sometimes I don't make sense, after all." she smiled at him. "Did you have any more reason for showing me in, or can I assume that you just wanted to further convince me that being friends with Severus is a severe and inexcusable crime?"
He was going to protest but, seeing that she already knew the answer, shook his head.
"Yes, actually, that was about it."
She bobbed her head in reply.
"I thought so. Thank you very much, but I'll be fine. Really."
She turned to leave again.
"Wait!"
"You've been saying that a lot. I had no idea I meant so much to you."
"Funny. No, I was going to say that perhaps you'd--you'd like to come round tomorrow?"
She turned back to face him, the smile that had been on her face even wider. James noticed that she had very small dimples in her cheeks when she smiled widely and wondered, faintly, if it hurt to smile so much.
"Yes, I would. May I ask why?"
"I--I have no idea."
"You're confused a lot as well, Mr. Potter. But I'll come anyway, as I think you could be a decent fellow, once you learn not to smoke, or call people names, and learn that it's nice to help girls when they fall off their bicycles."
"If the girl learned to ride her bicycle, it wouldn't be such a problem." he said grudgingly.
Lily's laugh seemed to echo in his ears even after she was gone.
Authors Note: I forgot to mention last chapter what many of you must have already figured out from the summary or from the story itself: This story is a bit AU. So if anybody sees anything that doesn't seem to jive with canon…it's completely intentional ;)
Also, chapters 3-24 should come relatively quickly, as they are already written and just need to be edited a little bit. Thanks for reading!
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