"Before I send you all off to bed," Dumbledore says. "I would like for our new Head Boy and Head Girl to stand- Mr. James Potter and Miss Lily Evans."
I slowly rise from my seat next to Lily as she does the same. A faint blush creeps over her cheeks, but she smiles and ducks her head at the applause. Sirius makes a big show of clapping and screams, "My babies!" A few people whistle, causing Lily to sit back down hurriedly. I wave at people enjoying myself.
Dumbledore clears his throat, suggesting my time is up. A few students laugh, as I shrug and sit back down. "If you two could stay for just a minute afterwards. The rest of you, off to bed."
The Great Hall erupts into chatter and laughter. Prefects lead all of the nervous first years to their newly sorted common rooms. I turn my head to watch the wonder in their eyes, and I feel a wave of nostalgia come over me, remembering walking through those halls for the very first time with a very jumpy Sirius. I frown remembering the letter Sirius got the following day.
Gasps and exclamations of wonder fill the Great Hall. I lift my eyes from my overflowing plate of food, Dad was right about Hogwarts' food, to see what all of the commotion is about. Hundreds of owls have flocked inside of the hall carrying letters and packages to students. I smile to myself wondering if my parents had written me back yet.
"Look, Lily, look!" I turn to see a girl with brown hair cropped at her chin tugging on the sleeve of the red headed girl from the train.
The red headed girl, Lily, giggles, but for the most part she contains her excitement. "I see them, Mary." She rolls her eyes as if she is above looking excited for a bunch of owls carrying packages, but interest sparks in her green eyes as she sneaks peaks at the ceiling when she thinks nobody is looking. I finally arrive at the notation that they are probably muggle borns. I turn away smiling, not letting them see my amusement over their excitement. I don't blame them for being excited; This has to be a lot to take in.
A large, grey owl lands in front of my plate, narrowly missing my pumpkin juice. "Hi, Eeylop!" I greet brightly.
I take the note from around his leg, scanning it hungrily. My parents' praise of my being selected for Gryffindor sends pride swelling in my chest. My mother had assured me several times she would be proud no matter where I ended up, but the nervous feeling over what house I would be placed in had evaporated last night.
Riiiiiiipppppp! My head snaps up at the sudden sound that causes an unnatural chill to settle into the warm air. My eyes lock with the a pair of brown eyes, belonging to the tall, lanky boy from my room. The boy's, Remus, eyes widen in alarm, and we both turn to face our new friend, Sirius.
Sirius' long hair covers his face from the view of others. His long, pale fingers slowly tear the pieces of letter, until they are so small he has formed a small pile of microscopic pieces of parchment.
"Er, Sirius?" I'm the first to reach out to him. Remus and our other bunk mate, Peter, have both remained silent whilst watching him destroy the mysterious letter.
Sirius sits up straight and turns to look at me, tears shining in his grey eyes. My eyes widen in return, feeling heat creep up my neck, uncomfortable at the sudden show of emotion. Sirius raises his chin and clenches his jaw in determination.
"My mum said I'm a disgrace," he says betraying no sign of wavering in his voice. "She said I have stained the Black family name by being in Gryffindor."
I open my mouth, not completely sure what I will say. "I-"
"So what," Remus interjects. I turn to look at him. His eyes blaze with a fierce understanding, and his jaw is set. "Who cares what she thinks? She thinks you're a disgrace because you're in Gryffindor? Be the best damn Gryffindor there ever was." My jaw drops at the seemingly quiet boy's words.
Sirius smiles at Remus' passionate words and rises from the table, scooping the pile of parchment into his hands. We all watch him warily as he makes his way down the table. Out of the corner of my eye I see Lily watch him too with unwanted curiosity.
He nudges a tall, bulky boy at the end of the Gryffindor table with his elbow. The boy turns to look at Sirius, eyebrows knitting together. "What year are you?" Sirius asks boldly.
"Fourth year?" The boy says as if he is unsure, looking down at the small raven haired boy.
"Can you burn this?" Sirius asks, eyes blazing.
The older boy's eyes shine with amusement, but he smirks as if in approval of Sirius. "Sure, kid."
"James?" Lily's voice lulls me out of far away memories. I blink forcing the thoughts out of my head, before meeting her gaze.
"Hm?" I ask.
"Come on, slow poke," she grins, throwing her legs over the bench. I stand too, and we make our way to the headmaster's podium. Dumbledore smiles down at us as we approach.
"I believe congratulations are in order," he says.
"Thank you, sir," Lily and I say at the same time. I see her hide a grin out of the corner of my eye.
"As you both know, Lord Voldemort is gaining more and more power by the day," his tone now serious, as his gaze pierces our eyes. "I chose you two as Head Boy and Girl because I know how both of you feel about the dark arts. I needed two people I could absolutely trust."
I nod solemnly, feeling the pride of Dumbledore's words swelling in my chest. "And, James," he turns to look directly at me. "I expect for you, as a pure-blood, to keep the blood status shaming under wraps, understand?"
"Yes, sir," I answer.
"Alright," Dumbledore says simply. "You two can start your first patrol, from now until midnight. Goodnight."
We bid our goodnights and walk out of the Great Hall. "We just had our last welcome back feast," says Lily sounding slightly stunned.
"You catch on quick, don't you, Evans?" I look at her teasingly.
"Shut it, Potter," she says rolling her eyes at me, her cheeks tinged a slight pink.
"Where should we start?" I ask.
"Start up top and work our way down?" She suggests. I only nod because I am suppressing my snide comment of 'I know where you can work your way down.' The fact that I'm holding this in at all should prove how hard I'm trying to get her to like me.
We make our way to the very top floor of Hogwarts. We look in corridors and broom closets, checking for anybody out of bed or up to things they shouldn't be. My mind goes to Padfoot, and how it is probably inevitable that I will find him shagging this year. A shudder runs through my body as my nose crinkles with an unwelcome image seared into my brain.
"You know, you're very helpful to have along, Potter," Lily says without her usual teasing tone.
I turn to see if she is arching an eyebrow or conveying sarcasm. She isn't. "Is that a joke?" I ask hesitantly.
She snorts and rolls her eyes which makes me want to kiss her because she is so fucking adorable. "No, you idiot."
"How?" I demand, still wary of her non-sarcasm.
"You know this castle like the back of your hand," she shrugs, not meeting my gaze. Is she embarrassed to compliment me? I don't tease her about her compliment because making her uncomfortable is not the way to win her over.
As we meticulously check each floor, time passes slowly. By the time we reach the Great Hall again, we still have two hours left in our shift.
"Want to play chess?" I ask leaning against the wall, legs throbbing from all of the walking up and down the bloody enchanted stairways.
She eyes me, pursing her lips. "We have no chess set," she states matter-o-factly.
I pull my wand from the inside pocket of my robes and shout, "Accio chess set!" As I wait for the game to make its long journey down to us, I pull a cigarette from my pocket, lighting it on the tip of my wand.
Lily never takes her eyes off the cigarette in my mouth, or is she staring at my mouth? Lily, it would be very helpful if you told me what you are staring at.
"Want one?" I ask slowly.
Her nose wrinkles in disgust, and she quickly shakes her head. "You know those things kill you, right?"
I feel a laugh escape my lips before I can think to stop it. "There's a lot of things that can kill me now a days."
"Aren't you worried about dying?" She asks. Her eyebrows pinch together, causing a pucker at the bridge of her nose.
"I mean, obviously, I don't want to die young," I say, pondering her words. "But nobody does."
A smirk crosses her face, and a wicked gleam enters her eyes. "You don't have to worry about that, Potter."
I raise my eyebrows in question at her. "Only the good, die young." I feel a sting of hurt before her face splits into laughter.
I fight a smile of my own. "Alright, Evans. I see how it is."
"Love you, Potter," she says playfully, making sure that I know that she's only teasing. My heart stirs at her words. She started saying that last year after we had become friends, and she had finally become comfortable around me. The first time she ever said it, I about collapsed. Even know, I feel the longing in every inch of my body for her to mean those words in a completely different way.
"Mhm, sure you do, Evans," I say playfully, trying to hide the longing in my voice.
"You love me too," she says making a pouty face so adorable it breaks my heart a little. You have no idea.
"I suppose," I shrug doing my best at being nonchalant.
"You do," she says dragging out the 'o' in a sing-song voice.
"You caught me, Evans," I say holding my hands up in surrender. She gives me a smirk, before I move the cigarette to my lips, taking a long drag. I feel the smoke entering my lungs letting it flow through before letting it blow out my nose, a trick that took ages of coughing and Sirius laughing to master.
She purses her lips at me. "So, you love me, right?" She demands. My stomach erupts with butterflies. Where the hell is she going with this? Does she mean love her or love her? Merlin, Lily, you're giving me a fucking heart attack.
"Yeah," I drag out the word scared of where this is going, and what she is about to say. Is this about to be a repeat of first through fifth year? Am I about to get yelled at again? Does she love me too? My heart rate quickens, and I am frozen where I stand.
She smiles at me before walking towards me. Merlin, what is she about to do? Slap me? Kick me? Kiss me? What the hell do I do? Get your shite together, James.
She leans in close. Close enough the I can see her dazzling emerald colored eyes up close. Close enough I can see her seemingly invisible eyelashes brushing her cheeks every time she blinks. Close enough that I can smell the scent of vanilla coming off of her in waves. Close enough that if I leaned in just a few inches, I could press my lips to her's. She smirks as if she knows my thoughts.
She suddenly snatches the cigarette out of my mouth, throwing it to the ground and crushing it with her foot. "Then do me a favor," she says, her hands placed on her hips. "Don't get yourself killed, Potter."
I'm still dazed from her being so close, I can't even be irritated that she just put out my cigarette. "Besides," she continues oblivious to my trance. "What girl wants to snog a guy that smells like cigarette smoke, blek." She makes a disgusted noise, and her nose wrinkles again.
Come on, James, say something clever. "What?" I ask with a playful smirk, my brain still foggy. "You wouldn't snog a guy who smokes?"
"Nope," she pops the 'p' for extra emphasis with a knowing gleam in her eyes. My chess set finally arrives at our feet. She sits herself on the floor, crossing her legs, as she begins to set up the pieces.
She might not feel the same way as I do. I know she's not talking about snogging me. But I know that I just smoked my last cigarette.
A/N*
Hello my beautiful readers. I hope everyone is well. I, also, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Do you see what I mean about the chapters lining up now?
Anyways, I hope you liked it, and that you're not too bored with James' mind.
Comment and Vote pretty please. Love you guys.