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Chapter Two

Lily groaned. "Potter, what are you doing here?" she asked, giving him a weary look. "Shouldn't you be off doing some sort of shenanigans with Black or something?"

James grinned; just that sight was enough to make Lily suddenly cautious. "Why would I be off engaging in tomfoolery when I could spend my time with you, Lilykins?" he asked slyly, reaching out to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off. "It's Evans," she said pointedly, "and this is a prefects meeting, Potter! You don't belong here!"

"I belong anywhere you are, Evans," he said with a smile, putting an emphasis on Lily's last name.

"Oh, shut your bloody mouth," the redhead said, massaging her temples- she could already feel the headache that James Potter usually gave her coming on. "I don't even want to hear it today."

James smirked slightly. "Well, if you really must know, I-"

But he was cut off midsentence as a seventh year Ravenclaw named Jennifer Cornwell came up to him and cleared her throat. "James," she said, nodding in acknowledgement.

James put on his famous lopsided grin and said, "Jennifer! Haven't seen you in ages, eh?"

The Ravenclaw girl smiled stiffly. "I suppose so," she said dryly. "Erm, I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming Head Boy-"

"WHAT?!" Lily exclaimed, having heard the whole exchange. She looked up at James with a flabbergasted expression. "You- but… What?!"

Jennifer gave her a swift glare, but otherwise ignored her. "-and I hope that you make sure you use that position wisely."

"Of course," he said, smirking at Lily from over Jennifer's shoulder. She simply gaped back at him.

The Ravenclaw gave him a sharp look. "I don't want to hear about illegal products from somewhere in South Africa being smuggled in, alright?"

"Why, Cornwell, I don't know why you'd think I'd do such a thing," James said with a grin, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well," Jennifer said cooly. "Let's keep it that way."

She turned to walk away, giving Lily one final glare before she made it swiftly to the other side of the compartment. The Gryffindor girl gawked at the Ravenclaw, wondering both if she had heard her right, and why she had been glaring at her so steadily.

"I wonder what's got her trousers in a knot," Lily wondered aloud.

"Oh, don't mind her," James said, waving his hand at her. "She's obviously jealous of you."

Lily looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about, Potter?" she snapped.

Said boy rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Lovely Lily-"

"Evans," the redhead reminded him.

"-don't you get it?" James asked, ignoring her. "You've got everything she wants. For instance, you're the top of the class, you're now the Head Girl, and you've got me!"

Lily gave him a disgusted look. "I do not have you," she spat. "But back to what she said… Head boy? Please, Potter, just tell me she's joking!"

"Nope!" James grinned. "Looks like we'll be working together, love!"

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "But… How can you be Head Boy?!" she stammered.

James raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, the action almost mocking. "Looks like ol' Albus Dumbledore things I'd be a good candidate."

"But… But you've never even been a prefect!" Lily managed to utter, her face turning a light shade of red. "Y-you're always getting into trouble, you're immature and mean and stupid… I mean… You're Potter, for Merlin's sake!"

James frowned at his, the playful spark quickly leaving his eyes. "Well, apparently that's good enough for Dumbledore, even if it isn't good enough for you."

Lily was slightly taken aback by the sudden iciness that had inhabited his voice, but she willed herself to remain unaffected. It was always a hard task when she was facing this particular boy, mostly because she usually had to resist the urge to somehow deflate his–in her opinion–rather large head.

"Well, then, Potter, you'd better be able to keep up, because I won't be waiting around for you!" With that, Lily whirled around and stormed to the other side of the compartment, careful to avoid Jennifer Cornwell in the process.

As the meeting began, they were going over the rules and regulations for the Hogwarts Express. Lily, who knew these by heart, let her mind wander, her eyes grazing over the small crowd of students that surrounded her. Finally, her eyes fell onto a particular person in surprise.

James was standing on the other side of the compartment, his eyebrows knitted in concentration as he listened carefully to what was being said, his hazel eyes completely solemn. She knew that, if anything, this was uncommon- at his best, Potter was usually grinning like a Cheshire cat. There didn't seem to be much that could ever bring him down. Another oddity was that he remained completely silent, whereas Lily wouldn't have been surprised if he had been plotting some prank on the speaker, or at least suppressing laughter as he made some quip about a poor, unsuspecting student in the room. Lily couldn't help but think of how nice it was to see him act so seriously for once.

But as the meeting moved on, and James remained in that same, sober state, Lily couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved. Why wasn't he joking around, or flaunting of his immaturity as he usually did? He didn't even seem to be eying any of the girls like he sometimes did, as if checking which one would be the best to snog next. And, truth be told, though she liked the sudden change, she couldn't help but admit that it threw her off a bit. Something had to be wrong…

Suddenly, before she even knew what was going on, she found herself engrossed in those hazel eyes. James, apparently feeling her gaze, had looked over at her, locking her eyes into place, and though she hated to admit it, she wasn't quite sure how to look away. There was just something in those depths, something so curious and strange… something so different…

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Lily!" a voice inside of her head screamed, inwardly kicking her. "It's James effing Potter! If you're implying that there might be something 'deep' about him, then you've gone completely mental!"

Lily shook her head, her eyes flying down to her shoes. She was right, of course. James Potter wasn't exactly one to be profound, or anything of the sort. After all, he did live his whole life dedicated to playing pranks and ruining the reputation of anyone who seemed to defy him. (Or Slytherins, of course- she knew that, in his book, they were as bad to him as she was to them. And everyone knew that, to the Slytherins, muggleborns were about as bad as they go.) Whatever she had thought she had seen in his eyes had only been a trick of the light, she concluded. That's all…

She bit her lip, trying and failing once again to pay attention to what was being said. She glanced over at James again, only to notice that he was no longer looking at her. His solemn expression didn't change, though, and she quickly looked away.

The rest of the meeting went like that- Lily would glance between the floor, the speaker, and James, as if she were unsure of which one she should focus on. She was honestly was a little concerned that he had been cursed or something, though part of her wondered why she would even care if he was. Either way, she couldn't shake off the suspicion that something was wrong.

By the end of the meeting, though, Potter seemed back to his older self- at least, partially. He was telling some sort of joke to a few eager-looking prefects, all of who seemed to choke in laughter when the punch line came. Lily suspected that it was all a little over-exaggerated; after all, people had a tendency to suck up to James Potter. If they didn't, they could easily end up on the opposite end of one of his hexes.

The redhead rolled her eyes as she turned away from the scene, readily leaving the compartment to begin her duties. She was stopped, though, after only a few steps.

"Going somewhere, Evans?"

The redhead inwardly groaned, whirling around to look at James again. "What?"

James shrugged. "I don't know… I mean, shouldn't we be working together? We're both the Heads, after all…"

Lily quirked an eyebrow. "What?" she asked. "So I can do all of the work and probably end up on the receiving ends of one of your humiliating pranks? Thanks, but no thanks."

"Lily dear-"

"Evans!" Lily practically growled.

James rolled his eyes. "Okay, Evans. But, believe it or not, I'm the Head Boy, and I actually intend to do part of my duties."

Lily gave him a disbelieving look. "You're joking. James Potter, actually working? That's a health hazard."

James's eyebrows knitted stubbornly as he crossed his arms, taking a step towards her. "How so?"

"Well, someone's obviously going to get a heart attack from witnessing that," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Don't you have some girl to snog, or some innocent first year to harass?"

"Oh, Evans, I think you underestimate me," James said, a small smile crawling up his face as he took another slow step towards her. "I took care of all of that as soon as I got on the train."

"Of course you did," Lily sighed. "Well, come on, then. Let's get this over with so that I can get away from you."

"Why Lily," James said, putting a hand over his heart and making an expression of mock-hurt. "I'm wounded. Why don't you want to spend time with me?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's Evans," I insisted once again, "and really, Potter, it'd be great to be around you, but your head is so big that it hardly leaves any room for me. Along with your ego, there really isn't any space left."

"Aw, Evans, though I'm flattered at such compliments, I'm sure my gigantic head and ego would definitely try and make some room for you," Potter grinned.

Lily sighed. "Enough. Come on, let's just get this over with-"

But her breath caught in her throat when she suddenly noticed how close he was to her. Hadn't he been a few feet away just a few moments ago? Now he was right up against her, looming over her so that she had to look up just to see his face. Lily stumbled back, unnerved, trying to regain her posture once again. It was hard, though, when she felt like she wanted to faint.

Bloody hell, how did he do that?!

"Whatever you say, love," James said, smiling wryly as he seemed to notice how anxious she suddenly seemed.

Lily felt her face heat up- only from anger, of course. She wanted to make some retort, but managed to bite back her comment; she figured that the less she fought with him, the faster that the whole thing would go. Not that she was actually able to think anything up; her mind was suddenly a muddled mess.

"Lily, get a hold on yourself, woman!"

Lily shook her head, trying to compose herself. "Right, then," she said, her voice suddenly strict. "Let's go."

"Of course, your highness," she heard James joke from behind her, but she gracefully ignored him. Hey, you never know- maybe if she acted like he didn't exist, he'd simply disappear.

"Hey Lily, can you believe that we'll be spending so much time together this year?"

Apparently, that wasn't working so well.

Lily whirled around furiously, only to be thrown off because of the fact that her face was now buried in James Potter's chest. Let me repeat: her face was buried in James Potter's chest!

Lily stood there for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. When she came to her right mind, she pushed him away quickly, trying to recompose herself quickly.

"It's Evans," she finally managed to say weakly- the ferocity that she had had before had vanished in a puff of smoke. "If you call me Lily one more time I'll… I'll…"

"Write me up?" James smirked. "Sorry, Evans, but that won't work anymore."

"I wasn't going to say that," Lily said quickly.

James gave her a smug look. "Sure you weren't."

Lily gaped at him, finding her former anger once again. "Well, I- I wasn't!" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Then what were you going to say?" he asked mockingly, watching her with a sudden intensity.

"I-" Lily stammered. "I- Oh, never mind! I don't have to prove myself to you of all people, Potter!"

As she started to walk away, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Admit it!" he said.

"Admit what?" Lily asked, refusing to meet his eye.

"That you have no way to threaten me anymore," he said, then paused. "You know, now that you mention it, you can also admit your secret, undying love for me if you want. I'd be fine with that"

Lily's face darkened to a nice shade of red as her eyes narrowed. She took a threatening step towards him. "First of all, I have a thousand ways to threaten you, Potter," she growled, flinging out her wand and pointing it at his throat, making him recoil in surprise. "Second of all, I hate you, alright? I hate you!"

James blinked, obviously shocked at her sudden change of temperament. She saw something that looked an awful lot like hurt flicker in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly that she had to wonder if it was ever really there.

"Um… right," he said slowly. Then he gave her an accusing look, gesturing at her wand. "Isn't that a bit hypocritical when you've spent the last seven years reprimanding me for aimlessly hexing others?"

"No," she said harshly, but she stepped away, putting her wand away. "You'd actually deserve it."

"Why Evans, I'm flattered," he said mockingly. "But I think you're forgetting something."

Lily gave him a confused look. "What?"

He stepped forward, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself cornered up against the wall of the train, his wand held up to her face. "Rule number one," he said smugly. "You never threaten a Marauder and expect to be left alone afterwards."

Lily glanced warily at his wand. Of course, the stupid Marauders- that's what his little group of friends called themselves. She found it pretty ridiculous, to tell you the truth, and often voiced her obvious resentment to the name. Who did they think they were anyway, some gang? That was hardly the case.

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Lily asked cautiously, her voice surprisingly quiet.

A strange expression flickered across James's eyes, but before the redhead could even try to decipher it, he was grinning again. Out of his wand came a puff of smoke.

Lily blinked. "That's all?"

James smiled. "You didn't think I'd really hurt you, did you?" he asked softly. Then he cleared his throat. "I just had to teach you not to mess with the Marauders!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said, pushing herself away from the wall and dusting herself off. "Now… erm… we really should be starting our duties."

With that, she turned around and hastily began to walk town the train's small corridors, trying her best to forget the little run-in she had just had with the very bane of her existence.

Somehow, she had a feeling that this would be a long day.

A/N: Hello! I want to say thank you SO MUCH to all of the reviewers- you guys rock. But I'm just curious... This story has been put on alert a lot, and even favorited. It just makes me curious... I mean, people I guess seem interested in it, but it doesn't get many reviews. If you happen to read this, could you please give me one? I'm not saying this because I'm a review whore or whatever (excuse the language), but I'm just seriously curious. What do you think about this story? Why do you find it interesting? Do you think it's a good idea? A bad one? Is there anything you like? Hate? Anything I should work on? After all, I really would like some input so I can know what I should work on as a writer.

I'm sorry if I sound kind of... I don't know. I'm just always curious when it comes to what people think about what I write. Also, I want to apologize for the many mistakes last time- I probably should have edited it, because it messed up quite a few things when it converted to FF. Sorry for that!

Sorry for the long author's note. But thanks if you read this! You guys are awesome :). Have a great day!

~IP