The Legacy of the Potters

Chapter one

1st of September 1977

It was nine o'clock in the morning and James had just woken up. The Hogwarts Express wouldn't leave for another two hours, but he wanted to make sure he had everything with him, since he had become Head Boy this year. His mother had made him a list on which she had written how he should behave towards the first years in particular, but also towards the other students. At first he had thought that he didn't need the list, but he soon realised that he had to work on his behaviour. His mum had often surprised him with "behaviour tests" this summer, and Sirius had laughed at him. She hadn't told him to be the most formal Person or anything, jut to be more polite and respectful towards others.

James looked at his trunk. He had packed his normal clothes, his Quidditch robes, his Hogwarts robes and of course, his invisibility cloak. However, he noticed that there were also more books than usual in his trunk. There was a note stuck between the pages of one of the books. James took it out. It said, "A little more reading will do you good". Yep, definitely his mother.

"James!", his mum called from the kitchen, "Breakfast is ready, are you coming?". James nodded and went into the kitchen. "Thanks Tippy, the pancakes smell delicious," he said, smiling warmly at the little house elf. Tippy beamed with delight on hearing this and disappeared from the kitchen with a bang.

"Morning mum, morning dad", he greeted his parents as he sat down, "Isn't Sirius awake yet?" "He's still in the bathroom, he should be here in a minute", his mother replied. "Well son, are you looking forward to Hogwarts?" his father asked with a joking grin, as if talking to a child. "Yes, I hope I make lots of new friends!", James replied, also grinning, in a childish tone. His mother rolled her eyes with a smile. It had become a tradition between his father and him that every year on the first of September, they would pretend it was the first time James went to Hogwarts.

"Aww, is little Jamie excited?". And there it was, Sirius' annual comment on it. What a delight. "Haha," James replied wryly. "What's the matter Jamie?", Sirius mocked further. "Oh, nothing, Siri, but are you all right, you big baby?", James asked with a grin. Sirius put on an offended expression and sat down in his chair. He really did look like a child when he looked like that. He couldn't hold it for long and burst out laughing. Soon James started laughing too, which made his mother say, "Ok, calm down now and start eating, we're going to be late".

When they arrived at the platform at ten to eleven, James hugged his parents and went with Sirius to find a compartment. "Sorry Padfoot, but I have to go to the head's compartment. Will you tell Moony and Wormtail I'll join you later?", James asked. "Sure", Sirius answered excitedly, "Oh just wait until I tell them you're Head Boy, they'll never believe me!".

James rolled his eyes and walked to the head's compartment. When he went in no one was there yet, so he sat down on one of the armchairs that were by the window and let his mind wander. A few minutes later the compartment door opened again and Lily came in. "Potter, this is the prefects compartment, so if you're here to ask me ou-"

"Sorry to interrupt, Evans, but I'm Head Boy", James cut her off. Seeing the badge on his chest, Lily sat down with a shocked look on her face and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Dumbledore must have lost his mind".

On the table between the two armchairs were several parchments. They read them through and filled them in. James had the feeling that Lily was watching him every now and then. After a while, the door opened again and the first prefects came in. When everyone was there, Lily and James stood up. Just as Lily opened her mouth, James started speaking.

"Thank you all for coming. My name is James Potter and this is my partner Lily Evans, we are the Head Boy and Head Girl this year. First of all, patrol times. Mondays Rawenclaw, Tuesdays Hufflepuff, Wednesdays Gryffindor, Thursdays Slytherin and Fridays us. On weekends, the teachers patrol. Has everyone written this down? Good. The passwords to the common rooms. Evans, if you would?". Lily stood up and handed out the slips to each of the prefects. "Thank you. Next item. You, as prefects, can both give and deduct house points if these students deserve it, however, you can not deduct or give points to each other or to any of us. You also have the right to hand out detentions. If any of you abuse your rights, you will be sent to the Headmaster and you may lose your position. Patrol now is Hufflepuff, at Christmas Rawenclaw on the way home, and Gryffindor on the way back. At the end of the year the Slytherins will patrol. Any questions?".