Chapter Text
How am I gonna make each moment
Better than the last?
How am I gonna make it better
If I can't go back?
-Little Big Town-
For a split second, as she laid there, Lily Evans thought she had died.
The explosion had thrown her clear across the field and hard onto the ground. She couldn't hear anything for a moment or see anything but the smoke-filled sky and then suddenly, the noise roared back to her ears all at once. She heard screams and shaky breaths, but it took her a moment to realize the shaky breaths were hers.
She pushed herself up and saw the fire and smoke everywhere. Lily grabbed her wand from the ground and made it only a few steps before she looked down and saw a body. A chill ran down her spine and tears burned in her eyes when she realized it wasn't a body, it was a person, her best friend Mary, laying lifeless.
It felt like all of the air left her as she dropped her knees. "No… no… Mary."
" LILY!"
"Lily!" Mary called again, shaking her shoulder.
Lily blinked and suddenly she was surrounded by people all perfectly fine and going about their business.
"You need to put that thing back," Mary told her sternly. "I told you not to touch it. Remember what I told you? Marlene's sister picked one up and saw her cat dying and then she was stressed out for a month, and nothing ever happened? They are relatively statistically improbable as they feed you the worst case scenario of your future. Who wants that flip of a coin? Why don't we find some of those goggles to see the match instead?"
Lily nodded, putting the orb back and rubbing her shoulders. "It was weird… it felt real."
"Most divination things do or Bogart's. Every time I see a Bogart everything rational leaves me. Suddenly that it is perfectly logical that someone is going to chase me with a bag of needles…" Mary said before she looked over at Lily and smiled, "don't get in your head about it. It wasn't real."
Lily nodded. She was right. Just because it felt real didn't mean it was.
"Besides, what we should be doing is tracking down Amelia Bones and seeing if she got anything yet."
Lily sighed heavily, "it is ridiculous I don't at least have a rejection letter by this point. I know I didn't get it. It's fine. Just give me the rejection letter and I will put all of my energy into figuring out what I want to do after Hogwarts."
"That sounds incredibly unhealthy. Maybe some of your energy. All of your energy sounds like an excellent way to stress out," Mary told her.
"Eh, when am I healthy?"
"You're right. You are a tiny ginger with imposter syndrome who never thinks anything she does is good enough because a majority of your family is unsupportive trolls… and by majority, I mean Petunia because she's so tall."
Lily laughed, shaking her head. "Ah-huh."
"She is so long…"
"Your sister is tall too."
"But she can't be compared to a Giraffe…"
Lily laughed, shaking her head. "Mary…"
"I know, I know." Mary smiled, raising her hands. Then she furrowed her eyebrows, "by the way… what does the tent look like? All of these tents look the same."
"Fabian said it was black with white stripes. Most of the tents are typical beige so we should be able to-" Lily began before she walked face first into a wall of a man. "Oh, I'm so-" Then the words died on her lips when she saw who it was.
The last time she had seen James Potter had been on the train ride home at the end of 6th year. He was throwing a ball that randomly would catch on fire with Remus, Sirius, and Peter around their compartment. She remembered rolling her eyes because despite being several departments down, she could hear them howling with laughter over all of the other compartments. But then he had to have been four inches shorter and not as… broad. It infuriated her.
Of course, Potter had gotten better looking. Everything came so easily to him. How surprising was it that with his wealth, grades and athletics he was now over 6ft tall? Not at all.
Lily stepped back from him, her annoyance rising when she saw the smirk pop onto his face. He was always smirking. She never knew why but she supposed if everything was easy for her she would always be smirking to.
"Are you going to move?" Lily asked him.
"Evans, where are your manners? You ran into me."
"Sorry, your ego is so large I should have seen it coming," Lily drawled sarcastically as she stepped back.
He stared down at her with his hair everywhere and his hazel eyes full of amusement, like the whole world was a joke and he was the only one in on it. "Cute, Evans. I'm surprised to see you here. Don't you hate Quidditch or anything interesting?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Right because not wanting-"
"Okay, let's just skip this…." Mary said, gently grabbing Lily's hand and walking her past James.
"He's so annoying."
"I know, but you probably should figure out a way to deal with him. If you do get Head Girl, you're going to have to control him and his friends."
"I would reason with Remus. I would politely ask Peter…"
Mary smiled at her knowingly. "And the other two?"
"… I don't know… maybe wave a biscuit at Black and stun Potter?"
"As long as you have a plan." Mary snorted before she grabbed Lily's arm. "There! I see the tent!"
"Good!"
As the two girls walked forward, Lily tried to put the interaction with Potter out of her mind. One of her resolutions for the year was to not let him get to her so much. He always got her so riled up and for what? So, he could enjoy seeing her mad? No, it wasn't worth it. Especially not when she had more important people to focus on, like her very cute boyfriend Fabian.
He hugged her the moment he saw her, stealing a quick kiss. She beamed, curling into him before they drew back.
"Hello, love."
"Hello," Lily grinned up at him.
"We're here too," Nick Brown snorted.
Lily flushed bright red. "Hi, Nick… and everyone else." She giggled seeing Amelia Bones, Hestia Jones, Evelyn Lockhart, Elizabeth Clearwater, Lorenzo Fancourt, Will Clarke and Gideon Prewett.
"Lily, have you gotten the letter yet?" Amelia asked dryly.
Lily laughed at her. "We don't know that he'll pick me."
"Well, we know he won't pick me. I'm shocked I got Prefect considering his bias," Amelia said, fixing her lipstick in the mirror before she stood up perfectly put together.
Lily couldn't argue with that. Dumbledore did seem to pick favorites. She'd seen it by the way he handled punishments and rewards. Twice he randomly gave points to a house at the final dinner, wiping away the work the other houses did in an instant. But Lily hated that. She didn't want to be picked because Amelia was the Minister's daughter and Dumbledore was avoiding nepotism. She wanted to be picked because she earned the position. But there was no use arguing it, especially when they didn't even know who had gotten it yet. So, she dropped it.
"So, you said this isn't the World Cup?" Lily asked the group.
Nick shook his head. "It's an Alumni game. They have it on the off years and give the money to charity."
"Oh, that's nice," Mary smiled, "what one is it this year?"
"Not a clue, but we should get going to our seats."
Lily nodded, slipping her hand into Fabian's as they walked to the stadium.
Sirius smirked at James as they walked to the box. "So, you and Evans are still hot and heavy huh?"
"She's a little pistol. She runs into me and then tries to tell me off."
"I don't think she tried, I think she did but no matter the game is about to start," Sirius said, clapping his back excitedly.
"I know, I know!" James grinned back.
When they stepped into the booth James handed his parents two pairs of omnioculars.
His mother kissed his cheek in thank you while his father handed him a spreadsheet of the players.
"Thanks, Dad, you already making your picks?" James asked him.
"Nah, I'm waiting to see if Glibenson shows up." Mr. Potter told him.
He smiled at them before he headed over to his friends a few seats down. He held up all of the omnioculars he had grabbed and teased the group, "that's right, that's right your savior is here."
Marlene snorted, handing him money.
"Marlene, don't be rude," James scoffed swatting her hand before he handed the rest out.
He would have invited Marlene, Sirius, and Dorcas anyway, but as newly named Quidditch Captain he also added Daisy so the whole team was there to watch the match. He thought it was a good way to start things off, especially since his girlfriend and Remus's were already coming.
"Sweetie, did you find any-?" Katherine Atwood asked before he handed her a bag of Fizzing Whizbees. She giggled and dragged him down for a kiss, "you are just the best boyfriend ever."
"I know, I know," James teased her before he sat down between her and Sirius as the other people started to fill in the box.
Katherine slipped her hand into his and smiled at him so sweetly he had to steal a kiss.
They'd been dating since May, and he'd never had something that was so easy. She was training to be a healer, so they were in most of the same classes, but she was in Ravenclaw and had friends there, so she wasn't around all the time. It was perfect and the longer he dated her the more he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed her sooner. He knew why. Katherine was slim and short with long platinum blonde and the brightest blue eyes. She was very sweet with a soft voice and even softer hands… But he had his eyes on a taller, mouthier redhead for most of his Hogwarts career, and now he had his head on straight.
Evans was fiery but Sirius was right, she was never going to budge on her opinion of him so why waste his energy there? Especially when Katherine was so amazing. She even hooked her friend up with Remus, which gave him his first girlfriend ever. An accomplishment the boys were positive wasn't going to happen because of his reluctance to trust anyone other than them.
"So do we know who the Head Boy and Head Girl are yet?" Greta asked the group.
Sirius gave Remus a significant look before he said, "It's probably one of the redheads."
"I hope not Amelia," Peter said with wide eyes, "she seems like she holds no mercy."
"And Lily would?" Remus scoffed.
Peter made a face either way.
"Don't worry, Wormy, you're never the one that gets caught anyway," Sirius snickered.
Peter flushed and shrugged.
It was true. Remus was great at finding a hiding spot and Peter openly shifted into being a mouse anytime it was even possible he could get caught. Sirius and James weren't as lucky or as talented at dodging detection. But either way, it would be fine. James would either fight with Lily, or Sirius would hit on Amelia. Either way it was a manageable outcome.
"It's starting!" Sirius cheered excitedly before all the veteran players walked out on the field.
They started going player by player discussing their backgrounds, their stats, and how many years they'd been in retirement. Katherine leaned over and whispered to James, "which one is your jersey?"
"The next one," James grinned.
"Now, last but not least, the all-time leading Chaser Euriggggggg Flooooooyd!" The announcer yelled out excitedly before he was drowned out by the crowd.
James, Sirius, Marlene, Dorcas, and Daisy all stood up and screamed the loudest as Peter, Remus, Katherine and Greta laughed at them.
The game went by quickly. The Welsh as Mr. Potter predicted did not do well against Romania because his key player didn't show up at the game. James was disappointed but not by much because it still was an interesting game, especially when the Welsh nearly pulled the snitch in the last twenty minutes, nearly flipping the game on its side.
"Okay," Mrs. Potter began, pointing up at James, "your dad and I are heading home. Do not make me regret leaving all of you alone with the tent."
James laughed and took his mother's hands, "mum, I swear. The tent will still be there in the morning with all of us perfectly fine."
"Fine, fine, fine," Mrs. Potter said, dragging him down to kiss his cheeks.
James didn't fight it. He just laughed and took it. His mother was always affectionate and given how small his family was and how old his parents were he never could even pretend he didn't love it. But he did laugh when she dragged Sirius down and did the same thing to him. Sirius unlike James blushed hard, a slight none of them had ever seen.
"Awwww," Remus teased him.
Sirius laughed, shook his head, and smacked him.
"Be good kids," Mr. Potter told them, squeezing his son's shoulder before they walked to the portkey.
Leaning against Fabian, Lily laughed at how smeared Nick's face paint was from crying. Amelia looked at him in disgust, "I can't believe you cried over a Quidditch game."
"We were supposed to win!" Nick scoffed back.
Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose and him and scoffed. "I can't hear this again. Are we going to have fun or am I going to return home where it's more fun?"
"We should go walking around. I'm sure there are parties all around," Mary suggested.
Lily laughed, pushing herself up and grabbing Fabian with her. "Let's do it."
They walked from tent to tent, looking at what there was to do. It kind of turned into a festival and Lily was loving it, especially being there with Fabian. They'd been dating for nearly eight months, and she hadn't said I love you yet, but she was starting to feel like she might be ready to. Mary had been teasing her, telling her it wasn't something she had to prepare for but something she just said. But Lily felt like that was a huge thing to say so she'd been waiting for it to feel like the appropriate time.
"We should sneak away," Fabian whispered to her. "No one is going back to the tent for a while."
Lily flushed and laughed. "As fun as that sounds… the idea of anyone walking in on us… sounds terrible."
"Fine, fine," Fabian sighed dramatically.
"Anyone want to go see if the food carts are still open?" Mary asked.
Lily nodded and went up on her tiptoes to steal a kiss. "I will be back. Don't get too trashed. Want anything?"
"If they have any whizzy cabobs left…"
Lily snorted and said, "I will grab you one." She kissed him again before she linked arms with Mary and headed back to where they'd seen the food earlier. "I hope they have it… now that you brought up food, I can't go back. I will track down and steal Remus's stash of snacks if I have to."
"Is it because he's so tall that he needs more carbs than everyone else?" Mary wanted to know.
"Probably," Lily lied.
"I'm glad you said yes, I needed a break from Elizabeth. She has the personality of a cactus. Everything is beneath her… Amelia and Hestia are fine but Elizabeth and Evelyn… I don't know…" Mary shook her head. "I miss Marlene and Daisy… even Dorcas…" She teased her.
"I'm sure they are here somewhere and it's only for tonight I promise. Fabian asked for a group hang-"
Mary squeezed her arm. "I know, which is why I came with you so if he was talking to someone you wouldn't be just sitting there. It has been fun though. We just need food so I can be fed when I'm hearing Elizabeth sigh for the fiftieth time."
Lily laughed. "Fair enough. Fair enough."
They made it all the way through to the food area to find it was not only still going but going strong. Lily went through the list of food, trying to decide what to get before she saw Mary eyeing a guy a few people ahead of them. Smirking, Lily nudged her. "Are you going to do something?"
"W-" Mary began before all of a sudden the dark night sky went bright and there was a loud boom that echoed throughout the field.
Mary's brown eyes went wide. "What was that?!"
"I don't know," Lily said, getting out her wand as everyone turned to look. "Maybe fireworks went wrong? I know the Romanian's were setting off a lot earlier…"
"Yeah, maybe…" Mary frowned suspiciously. "I think we should head back just in case."
"Okay," Lily nodded.
She was still hungry, but she understood Mary's unsteadiness. There was something about the noise that seemed off. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she didn't put her wand away as they headed back. They were almost back to the tent, but people were acting strange, a lot of people were running and then she saw it, a mark in the sky.
"What is that?" Mary whispered.
Lily recognized it from the paper and immediately snatched Mary's hand and started running with her to the apparation point. "We need to get out of here!"
"What-?"
"It's the dark mark, the Death Eaters put it up when they've killed people. We need to leave. We're exposed!" Lily shouted.
Her lungs ached as she sprinted, but they were almost there. All they had to do was get past the trees. But then the ground wasn't beneath her and she was blasted away. Lily could feel her heartbeat but she couldn't hear anything but a ringing for a split second and then everything rushed back at once. She reached for her wand and once she found it she looked around. The field was filled with smoke from them burning the grass and looked down at her free hand in disbelief when she remembered she had been holding Mary's hand.
"Mary?... Mary?!" Lily yelled, running back and trying to find her until she saw a body and stilled.
"No," Lily gasped, running forward, "no."
Mary McDonald was editor of the Hogwarts Express newspaper. Mary McDonald was the Treasurer of the Charms Club. Mary was her first friend from Hogwarts and Lily had to see her laying on the ground, a gash on her head and the unmistakable look of death on her face.
They were playing a game of exploding snap when they heard it. At first, they just thought that someone accidentally set off one of the snapdragon fireworks leftover from the opening ceremonies, but then when they heard screams they all stopped what they were doing and walked to the edge of the tent.
"What is it?" Greta asked quietly, clinging to Remus. "A prank or something?"
"I… Sirius, do you see what's in the sky?" Remus whispered in a low voice.
Sirius looked up and said, "death eaters…"
James didn't wait to discuss it, he grabbed his wand and said, "I'm going to the left end with Wormtail, Remus you and Padfoot head the other way. Marlene, get Dorcas and Daisy out of here. Katherine and Greta go to the southeast exit. Stay together and stay low-"
"James, you can't," Katherine told him urgently. "You have to come with us."
"I have to help. You go." James told her firmly before he set off with Peter.
Peter looked like he'd rather go with the girls, but James dragged him along, wand out. He put out two tents on fire, checking to make sure they were unoccupied before he rushed on. When he made it to the center of the campsite, he turned and found Peter was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, come on…." James sighed before he shook his head and continued on.
He was sure he just lost Peter along the way in the chaos, and he was perfectly fine, but James wasn't leaving until he made sure there was no one left to help. It seemed like a lot of people got out until he saw some people floating in the air. He recognized the girl. She was a fifth-year muggleborn and the rest of the people looked like her family from the familiar features. James blasted one of the hooded men and then caught the family before they fell and lowered them to the ground slowly.
When they turned he went straight into hexes. He wasn't giving them the chance to have the upper hand, not when it was four against one. But then a man walked forward and held his hand up to stop them.
James didn't lower his wand as the chill went down his spine. He knew who it was immediately and was afraid, but he didn't stand down. The boys would find him. He hoped it was sooner rather than later, but he wasn't going to run. If he was going to die at that monster's hand he would do it by standing and fighting back.
"Potter, is it?" Voldemort said in a cold weirdly high voice.
"It is," James said, gripping his wand tighter.
"A pureblood… brave, clearly gifted… you should join me." The man-like creature smirked.
James made a disgusted face. "The lot of you are … pathetic. You hate people because you need to feel better than them. I would rather die than join you."
"Very well. You would make a great example then-"
"LIKE HELL HE WOULD!" Dorcas roared as she blasted one Death Eater clear across the field.
James grinned as Sirius, Remus, Dorcas, and Marlene started shooting spell after spell. He joined them, his wand ripping through the air as he dueled one viciously. They didn't have the upper hand for long as a few Death Eaters appeared from the other side of the field. But so did the Prewett's, Amelia Bones, Hestia Jones and the Longbottoms.
He'd had a moment of fear, a flicker really when he saw how outnumbered, they were, and how hard Sirius was fighting his opponent but once the tables were turned he saw Voldemort recalculating before there was a wall of smoke between both sides.
"What the fuck?" Dorcas scoffed when she shot a spell and none of the smoke dissipated.
"It won't go away until it does naturally," Remus scoffed.
"BLOODY COWARDS!" Sirius roared so they could hear as the Death Eaters retreated.
"I can't believe we got them to back down," Gideon blinked in shock.
Alice shook her head, "this… they did this to get a response."
James nodded before he shook his head. "Voldemort didn't duel anyone… He was watching and when he finished his assessment that's when he pulled everyone back." Then he ran a hand through his hair. "Everyone alright?"
They all nodded.
"Did the girls get out?" Sirius asked Remus and Sirius.
Marlene nodded, cleaning a cut on Dorcas's cheek.
"Anyone unaccounted for?" James asked. "I lost Peter, anyone see him?"
Fabian shook his head. "No, but I haven't seen Mary or Lily since they left to get food. Has anyone seen them?"
James's face went pale as he shook his head. Two well known muggleborn's missing wasn't a good sign by any means. He said, "Okay, let's stay in groups just in case that was a fake out."
Amelia fixed her somehow still perfectly kept red hair and said, "I will go make sure the Ministry has been alerted."
"Alice, you go with her since you have to specifically contact the Auror department," James instructed before he looked at the others and quickly strategized. "Okay, Marlene, Sirius and Gideon, you head back to the main entrance to see if there's anyone that needs help or any sign of McDonald, Evans or Peter. Jones and Frank you check the tents again maybe they ducked into one. Fabian and Frank, you check the food court area to see if they are still there. Remus and I will check around here. If you don't find them, meet back here to regroup."
Everyone nodded and split off without further question.
Once they walked away, Remus shook his head. "This is bad."
"I know," James sighed as he used his wand to light the way ahead of him. There were lanterns that lit the way, but they'd been shattered to bits, so it was just an eerie darkness.
The pair walked in silence for five minutes until Remus grabbed James arm and pointed ahead. They were nearly at the back entrance where there was an apparation point, which was clearly where Lily and Mary had been headed originally. But it was clear from the way Lily was crying that Mary had not made it.
James's chest tightened and he told Remus quietly, "go, she needs you."
Remus walked over and cradled Lily into his chest.
Lily cried, "she… she … she won't wake up and… I had her hand Remus I don't know how… I…"
"I know."
"I can't leave her. I won't. I'm staying. I'm staying with her," Lily told Remus determinedly.
"Okay, okay I understand. We'll stay with her," Remus reassured Lily as he rocked her back and forth.
James stood there, motionless, and unsure what to do. All he could do was look at Mary. He didn't know her well. They'd been potions partners one time and he knew she wrote articles for the Hogwarts Express, but other than that he hadn't spoke more than a handful of words to her. She was just another girl he went to school with and now… she wasn't.
He looked away. He had to but when he did his eyes went to the sky to see the skull with a snake embedded in the clouds. It was haunting and made all his hair stand at attention. It wasn't a warning or a threat. It was a promise and James felt the weight of that as he saw McGonagall and Dumbledore walk through the dark.
Somber, he went to them and said, "It's Mary McDonald."
McGonagall gripped her broach, her face sullen at the news.
"He was here," James told Dumbledore, "Voldemort."
Dumbledore paused and suddenly looked at James differently. James couldn't explain how but, in an instant, he saw the Headmaster shift. He asked him, "you faced him?"
"He asked me to join him. I refused and then before he could… a bunch of people came. We dueled them until he pulled them back. I sent Sirius and the others to look for people that needed to help and…" James paused, his throat getting tight. "Evans and McDonald… they had been missing…"
Dumbledore said, "I see."
"I think this was a test to see what the reaction would. To see what they could do. I don't think this was just to prove a point. He was watching us fight," James told him.
Dumbledore nodded again.
"She won't leave her," James told McGonagall quietly.
McGonagall said, "I will handle it then you and Mr. Lupin need to take her home."
"Yes Ma'am," James told her.
He waited, watching McGonagall whisper something to Lily. Lily took a moment before she nodded and drew back so McGonagall could take Mary's body. Remus helped Lily up and the three of them started silently walking through the field.
Lily looked at the black dresses on her bed and wiped her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time until she heard a knock and saw Marlene at her door. She sighed and walked over to hug her. "I… I think I keep thinking if I have the right dress…"
"It's going to be easier?" Marlene supplied, rubbing Lily's back. "It won't. It's going to be hard either way."
"I know, I know," Lily sighed, wiping her face. She laughed humorlessly. "My face is so puffy."
"Well, I have a cream that will bring that down, don't worry."
"How are you?" Lily asked Marlene.
Marlene shrugged, "I just keep thinking it's going to feel so weird going back in a couple weeks without her."
"I know… I met her on the train and…" Lily sighed, shaking her head. "It's surreal."
"I know…" Marlene nodded.
"But we have to do this. We have to say goodbye, honor her, and support her family," Lily said determinedly as she wiped her face again. "So which dress says all of that?"
"This one for sure," Marlene teased her lightly, holding the cap-sleeved knee-length dress.
Lily laughed, hugging her again before she stripped down and changed.
"Dorcas said, you got Head Girl though… that's … something."
Lily fixed her dress and stepped into her heels. "Yeah… I was so focused on that a few weeks ago and now… it feels a little empty."
"Do you know who the Head Boy is?"
"It didn't say. I just know it wasn't Fabian. He told me when he saw the letter."
Marlene asked, "you didn't tell him?"
"It didn't feel like as big of an accomplishment anymore and then when he said he didn't get it I didn't want to rub it in," Lily said honestly.
Marlene pulled her into another hug and sighed, "she would want you to be excited."
"I know, but then she should be here to be excited," Lily sighed back before she leaned into Marlene's arms. Then she drew back and wiped her face again, groaning when she saw how red her face was. "God, I look like hell…"
"That I can fix," Marlene told her warmly, "sit at your desk and we'll fix it."
Lily nodded and sat down. Marlene wiped her face off and then she added the cream. It had a cooling effect and then suddenly her eyes and cheeks weren't as puffy as they were before. By the time Marlene added some cover-up they were back to their normal size. Lily appreciated her help more than she knew.
It had been a rough couple of days with the nightmares and anxiety. Fabian had come by to check on her, but she didn't want to bug him with everything. She wanted to be strong and be able to push through on her own. But after today she knew it would get easier as this was the part she was dreading.
"All done," Marlene said softly.
Lily looked up at the mirror and recognized the image as a prettier version of herself. She hardly looked like she'd spent most of the week crying and she was grateful for it. This day wasn't about her. It was about Mary, and she didn't want to do anything that would take any attention away from that.
"Thank you," Lily told her sincerely.
Marlene nodded, linking arms with her as they headed out the door to the funeral.
James walked into the kitchen and watched his parents cook dinner together. They had a little ritual to it. His mother would rinse everything off and then hand it to his father to cut them up and then they both would take turns adding things to be cooked. It was almost like a dance, and he watched it with a wide smile, hoping that he would have something like that someday.
Mrs. Potter looked over and frowned. "How was the funeral darling?"
James shrugged, sitting down on one of the seats.
"Poor girl," Mr. Potter shook his head.
"I know. I heard they're thinking of not sending her sister back. Too dangerous," James frowned.
"Well, they have to do what's best for their child," Mrs. Potter said, "but I don't think that will help unless the girl can work in the muggle world."
James said, "I don't know. She's a third-year Hufflepuff, I've never met her."
"How are you doing dear?" Mrs. Potter warmly cupped her son's cheek.
James smiled and hugged his mother briefly. "I'm fine, mum. Just wish I could help."
"You will do great things James," Mr. Potter told him, "I'm sure of it."
James snorted, "thanks, dad."
"Would I lie to you?" Mr. Potter teased him.
"No, but I'm not quite sure what those great things are."
The floo noise went off in the other room and they all looked at each other to see if they were expecting someone. Mr. Potter said, "Oh, I forgot. James someone wanted to talk to you for a moment."
James furrowed his eyebrows as he took off his tie. "Who?"
Dumbledore walked in and James couldn't have been more confused. He already had gotten his Quidditch Captain button and knew exactly what to do since he spent the year before shadowing Henry Wood. Even if he didn't, Dumbledore was hardly the person to come and talk to him about the position so he was confused.
"Headmaster?" James said in confusion.
"James, would you care to have a walk?"
James shrugged and said, "Sure."
He nodded at his parents before he walked out to the path leading to the patch of woods. James was quiet for a few minutes before he couldn't take the silence any more. "Sir?"
"Yes, I'm sure you're wondering what I wanted to speak with you about. It's about your future James," Dumbledore began softly before he turned to look at him. "At the Alumni championship, you show great bravery and leadership. You not only put out several fires, made sure everyone was taken care of and organized the other students, but you faced down one of the evilest wizards of all time."
James didn't respond. He just did what he had to. It wasn't for show or to gain favor. He didn't even know what kind of favor Dumbledore could give him. It wasn't at school, and he wasn't doing it as a Ministry official, so it was just something he did, nothing to really discuss. But the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes proved there was an ulterior motive at play.
"James, how would you like to be Head Boy this year?"
James laughed and shook his head, "are you that desperate after Remus turned you down?"
"Quite the opposite in fact. I have several candidates that could do the job justice, but I saw something in you the other day James. You brought students from different houses together, they unquestionably listened to you and your leadership. The world is going through a trying time. We are at a teetering point, and we need people in these positions that will set a good example."
"Don't you think my detention record may send mixed messages on that front?"
"No, I don't. I think it shows that people can do better, and people can mature. The question to you James is can you handle the responsibility enough to rise to the occasion?"
James adjusted his glasses thoughtfully.
"You have the night to think about it before I move on to the next candidate, but I suggest you take time to consider this decision. I do believe it is an important one."
James nodded. "I will, sir."
Dumbledore smiled and said, "if I don't hear from you, I will assume you rejected the position. Either way, I will see you soon."
"Bye, sir," James said before Dumbledore started walking towards the apparation point on the other side of the house.
James could have gone inside but instead, he walked a little deeper and sat on a car-sized boulder. Taking out his wand, he started aimlessly transfiguring the twigs and rocks into random things until he heard Sirius coming.
"What are you doing here mate?"
"Thinking," James shrugged. "What's up?"
Sirius shrugged, "just was hanging out with everyone at the wake."
"Ah."
"What's on your mind Prongs?"
"Dumbledore was just here. He offered me Head Boy."
Sirius's bark-like laugh filled the air bringing a smile to James's lips.
"I know," James told him, "but he meant it."
"He must be losing it."
"Maybe."
Sirius lazily transfigured a pebble into a bounder the same size as the one James was sitting on. Then he sat across from James. "You want to take it?"
"I mean… it would be weird, wouldn't it? Giving out detentions? Telling people what to do?"
"Well, I hate to break it to you mate but since we've slowed down on the pranks, you don't really get that many detentions anymore."
James snorted. "True but you know…"
"And you are literally Quidditch Captain… where you will be bossing us all around… So, what's the difference?"
"Well, when you put it like that," James teased him.
Sirius smirked and winked at him. "I know, I have a way with words."
"I don't know… I knew that things were happening but it felt like things accelerated so much the other day. McDonald's dead. A bunch of other people were hurt… it feels like the war is just looming out there."
"It is but here's the great thing. We get to fight in it together. You and me until the very end."
James grinned, "fair enough… I mean, we did make the most powerful wizard of all time run."
"Yeah, we did that. A bunch of kids. So as long as we keep up that energy we will win this war."
James asked, "do you think me being Head Boy will help that?"
"The fuck if I know. All I'm saying is Head Boy has his own bedroom, bathroom, and common room. If I were you, I would jump for it on that reason alone."
James laughed, shaking his head. "You're right… here I am thinking about how unqualified and inappropriate I am for the position when really, I should have been thinking about whether or not it benefits me to take it."
"There you go," Sirius snickered.
"You are such a problem."
"True, but I'm your best friend. So I'm your favorite problem."
James rolled his eyes before he pushed Sirius off the bolder.
"Oy!" Sirius groaned with a laugh. "Rude!"
James hopped off the rock and scoffed at him. "Come on you big baby."
"That drop could have killed me."
"Merlin…"
"Send the healers… only the hot ones though…" Sirius grinned through his dramatics.
James laughed at him. "Move your arse before mum yells at you for getting your new clothes dirty."
Sirius sighed, "fine, fine… but she knew who she was buying them for."
James pulled him up. "Ah huh, let's go. I'm starving."