And I know based on my track record
I might not seem like the safest bet
All I'm asking you
Is don't write me off just yet
The feeling of summer was in the air as Lily Evans made her way silently around the sixth floor of the castle, her favorite place to patrol in her prefect duties. She could hardly wait for the holidays to start. She wanted to go home and see her parents, and make sure that her awful sister hadn't stolen all her records when she'd moved out just after Lily had returned to school. She hadn't been able to make it home for Christmas, for the first year ever. Her mother had filled her in on all the details in a letter, including all the details on Petunia's boyfriend Vernon- who was a very nice man, according to her mother. But Lily knew her sisters taste and knew that Vernon would be exactly like Petunia- more concerned on what other people think than what they actually think.
She stopped at her favorite window and looked out on the grounds. She could see students milling around, enjoying the lasting afternoon sunshine, especially as exams were finished. Out of the corner of her eye she spied four boys standing quite near the forest and she looked closer at them.
'Oh, honestly,' she said, as she realized who it was. James Potter and Sirius Black seemed to think they ruled the school. And their other two friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew seemed to think so too. And it was a shame, really. Lily had gotten to know Remus through a few classes that they took that James and Sirius didn't take and he was very smart, very quiet and not at all like James and Sirius. She didn't know Peter terribly well, but she had a feeling that his friendship with them was more for protection than friendship.
Semi curious as to what they could be plotting this time, Lily made her way towards the marble staircase and half walked, half ran all the way down to the entrance hall, where the doors to the castle flung open, and James Potter walked in, alone.
'Evenin, Evans,' he said cockily, bowing slightly. 'Would you like a gentleman escort this evening?'
'It'd be nice,' she said, with a sly smile and his eyes lit up and she continued with her sentence. 'If there was actually a gentleman offering.'
'Ouch, harsh words there Evans,' he said, feigning being shot in the heart. In spite of herself, she started to laugh.
'I save the best for you, James,' she said, winking. He started laughing as well and stepped away from the open doors.
'Are you going out?'
For a moment she couldn't remember why she had come downstairs. But then she remembered James and his friends lurking outside the forest. And she couldn't very well go out there now.
'No, no, I was going to go see if Professor Slughorn was outside, but then I remembered he said he was going to be in his office all night,' she lied quickly. James shrugged his shoulders.
'Ok, well, I'm sure I'll see you around,' he said, bowing again and walking back out the doors.
Lily started to head back up the stairs, thinking that it was strange that James had come in, only to go again. It was as if he knew that she was coming. To most it would seem impossible, but she knew James Potter very well by then and knew he almost had a magnetic attraction to wherever she happened to be. It had been very annoying for the first five years, but by the start of sixth year, she had grown accustomed to it and had almost been hurt when it took James two months to attempt to ask her out, instead of his usual customary two minutes.
Her best friend Ella had teased her, saying that maybe Lily did like James after all. Lily had laughed at her, it was stupid to think like that. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that James drove Lily nuts, especially his treatment of other people at times. He was a bully at times, everyone knew it. But no one really cared- he was James Potter, after all, and with Sirius Black they had enough charm to make everyone think they were wonderful.
But maybe he was changing, she thought as she returned to her window and watched the four boys huddling together. He hadn't been so arrogant lately, or as annoying. And the brief moments that they spent together, in class or in the hallways, were getting more and more pleasant…
Or maybe he just suffered severe spell damage to the brain…
~*~
Before long, the final day of term crept up on them. Classes were all but cancelled for the sixth and seventh years, the idea being that they spend the time packing up their dormitory's before the feast that night. But no one bothered with that, of course. Lily used to the time to send a quick owl to her parents to remind them to pick her up from Kings Cross and to start reading a novel that she had been planning on reading all year.
And that was when it happened. Suddenly there was a bright white light and a loud bang. Everyone started to scream. And then the light faded, their ears stopped ringing and everyone started to laugh.
Lily was one of the few who weren't laughing. Hundreds of Chicken's were now roaming around the common room, clucking and dropping feathers, trying to pick at peoples homework. And over by the portrait hole, she spotted James and Sirius, laughing like hyenas.
'So this is what you were up too,' she said sharply, dodging chickens as she headed over to them.
'Pardon?' Sirius said, flicking his long black hair out of his face.
'When I saw you the other day, near the forest. You were plotting to set hundreds of chickens loose in the common room.'
'We just thought it would be a good end of term prank, to keep our tradition,' Sirius offered as an explanation. 'We did the furniture on the roof thing last year, the color change thing the year before, the talking chairs the year before that…'
'I don't care about all of those,' she said sternly. 'Clean these chickens up NOW or I'm going to Professor McGonagall.'
She stormed out of the portrait hole, furious at the fact that she was always the one who was trying to pull them into line. Even Professor McGonagall had given up on them- she tried her best, but they never listened to her. They didn't even listen to Dumbledore, but she also knew that Dumbledore would find their pranks amusing.
Turning a corner, she was startled when she ran into something solid. She looked up and realized she'd run into Remus Lupin.
'Sorry,' she said, with a small smile. 'Bit distracted.'
'Mmm… by chickens I assume?' he asked and she nodded.
'I just want to throttle them.'
'So do I,' Remus said with a laugh. 'I tried to talk them out of it, I really did. But once they get an idea in their head, they have to do it.'
'Just as long as they get it cleaned up.'
'They will,' Remus said, with a twinkle in his eye. 'I have some persuasion over James sometimes.'
And he walked away towards the common room and Lily watched after him, wondering what his power of persuasion was.
~*~
The trip on the Hogwart's Express was uneventful and Lily was able to get a fair bit of her novel read, whilst still managing to involve herself in conversation with her friends. As they neared Kings Cross, she put the book back into her bag and changed out of her school robes into a dress her mother had sent her for Christmas, which she knew would make her happy.
Arriving at Kings Cross was the usual organized chaos as hundred of students disembarked the train with luggage and pets going everywhere. Lily had just managed to get her trunk off, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned, and saw she was looking into the hazel eyes of James Potter.
'Can we talk?' he asked and she looked at her watch. 'Quickly. Please.'
She nodded and he lead her over to the side, behind a large pot plant that hid them from view.
'I just… I want to say something.'
'What?' she wasn't feeling terribly nice, she just wanted to get home.
'Don't write me off.'
'Pardon?'
'Don't write me off yet, Lily,' she looked at him and realized this was the first time she had ever seen him look so serious. 'I know I don't have the best record with you. And I know you think that I'm a idiot and that you shouldn't take a risk with me, that I'm not the safest bet in the world. Just don't think I can never change. Because I can. I have been. And I'm going to keep changing.'
'And why are you changing?'
'Because I want to be the sort of person that you won't be embarrassed to be seen with,' he said honestly. 'In case you haven't noticed, I like you.'
'Really?' she mocked and he laughed.
'Just don't write me off, ok? You'll see.'
And then he was gone. Lily was mystified as she returned to her trunk and made her way through the barrier and into her mothers waiting arms.
It was three weeks into the summer when she received the first letter from James. Unlike other letters that she had received, it contained more than vague plans for dates that they could go on. It was full of heartfelt apologies for all those letters, as well as all the hundred of other embarrassing things that he had done to get to her over the years.
The second letter was followed by a parcel of records and books that he thought she might like. The third letter came with a bunch of flowers. The fourth letter came solitary and took her almost a full day to read, as he had filled it with so many stories of his summer that at times she couldn't breathe because she was laughing so hard.
Two weeks before the end of the holidays she woke one morning to see a brown owl waiting on her window sill. It looked very much like James's owl Merlin, but once it was inside she could see that it had a Hogwarts envelope.
Her hands trembled as she pulled it from the owl's leg and slit the wax seal. She would be entering her seventh year, this would be the last letter that she would receive. It would also be the letter telling her if she had been considered worthy to being head girl.
Gingerly, she tipped the envelopes contents onto her bed and almost screamed when the silver badge slid out at the end. She picked it up first and traced her fingers over the words 'Head Girl'. Smiling, she placed the badge back on the bed and picked up the letter.
Miss Lillian Evans
The Second Bedroom
1203 Greenhouse Way
London, England
Dear Miss Evans,
Congratulations on being selected by the staff as head girl for the school year commencing on September 1st. A badge reflecting this selection is enclosed in this envelope.
This selection is due to your many years of dedication to the school as a prefect and due to your continued excellent marks, and your attitude towards younger students.
As head girl, you will be assisting the head boy and staff in enforcing the rules and standards of Hogwart's School. You will be required to attend monthly meetings with the heads of the school houses and headmaster.
Prior to your arrival at school, you will be required to conduct a meeting on the school train with all the returning and new prefects, a list of which has been enclosed. The head boy will be assisting you with these duties, and we wish to advise that Mr James Potter has been selected as head boy.
Your book list for the new school year has also been enclosed. Please be advised that the school train leaves promptly at 11am on September 1st.
Regards,
Miverva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Lily was speechless as she re read the letter three times. James had been selected head boy? She was baffled at how it could have happened. But then her mind went back over the last year. James had been a lot better behaved than normal, baring a few select incidents. And she knew that he was smart and passed his classes easily and with great marks, but was that enough to warrant making him head boy?
And then the conversation at Kings Cross came back to her and the letters that he had sent.
Don't write me off yet.
She suddenly got it. And she suddenly couldn't wait to go back to school.
~*~
She made her parents leave her at the station even earlier than normal, using the excuse that the train was leaving earlier that year. They had been so proud of her becoming head girl, even though they didn't really understand her life at Hogwart's terribly well. Petunia hadn't even heard Lily tell her, though she was more wrapped up in herself to worry about her sister, as she and Vernon were to be married by Christmas. Lily had the suspicion that Petunia had deliberately arranged the wedding for when Lily would be at school and couldn't get home, and Lily didn't really care.
It was 9am when Lily crossed the barrier and arrived on platform 9 and ¾. The train was already waiting there and she wondered if it just waited there all summer. There was no other use for it. She stowed her trunk on board and stepped back off the train and just stood the platform and looked up and down it. There wasn't a soul around.
And then she heard the clanging of a trolley. She looked up and saw that James and Sirius had just burst through the barrier. Sirius grinned as he saw Lily and just whispered something to James.
'Er, I'll just go get that bag I forgot,' he said a bit too loudly and vanished back through the barrier, ruining the effect by winking very obviously.
James walked slowly towards Lily and, for the first time she noticed, he looked awkward.
'Congratulations,' she said with a smile, pointing to the head boy badge he'd pinned to his jumper. 'That gave me quite a shock.'
'Me too,' he said, relaxing very slightly. 'We'll be seeing each other a lot, I guess.'
'Well, not if I can help it,' she said and then shook her head. 'No, I didn't mean that.'
'What?' James said, looking mystified.
'I enjoyed the books. And the records. And the flowers were beautiful.'
'But?' James said and she looked at him strangly.
'But?'
'There has to be a but coming,' he said, almost sadly.
'No but,' she said, with a smile.
'No but?'
'James,' she said, seriously, stepping close to him. 'Is there something you want to ask me?'
He looked confused and she wished she could take a photo of his face at that moment. He looked like he was trying to hold in an urge, knowing what would happen if he did.
'Wouldyouliketogooutwithme,' he said very quickly, as if he was trying to get the rejection out of the way quicky.
'Yes.'
At first Lily didn't think that he heard her. He had started to turn away, but then stopped as what she said sunk in.
'Yes?' he repeated.
'Yes.'
And he started to laugh as he looked at her.
'You said yes,' he said, smiling as widely as she had ever seen him smile. 'You said yes!'
Without warning, he grabbed her and spun her around in a quick circle, his hazel eyes shining as they looked into her green ones.
'I didn't write you off,' she said as he put her down.
'Just please don't ever,' he said hoarsely, his heart racing as he bent his head slightly and brushed his lips gently on hers.
'I won't… I promise…' she whispered, a smile creeping across her face as Sirius came back through the barrier, empty handed and cheering.