[A/N: So, I’ve been wanting to write a Harry Potter fic for a while and seeing as I love the Lily/James pairing I decided to write about them. enjoy!

Last Chance

Chapter One: Letters

Lily awoke to something being thrown in her face and the voice of her sister, Petunia.

“Letter for you, Freak.” Petunia said acidly.

Lily picked the thick parchment envelope off of her face and squealed in excitement when she noticed the wax seal on the back. It was her letter from Hogwarts. She eagerly opened it and pulled out a letter.

Dear Miss Evans,

Enclosed you will find a list of school supplies required for your continued studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As usual, the Hogwarts Express will depart platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station on September the first at ten o’clock.

I am also delighted to inform you that you have been selected to serve as the Head Girl this year. You are to report to the Headmaster’s office after the feast to receive your instructions and meet the Head Boy.

Congratulations,

Minerva McGonagall

Lily read the letter through four times before it finally sunk in. She had been made Head Girl. She turned the envelope upside down and her green eyes widened as a large silver badge with an ‘H’ and the Gryffindor lion fell from its opening. Lily screamed and began jumping up and down on her bed.

“Lily!” her mother called from the kitchen, “Breakfast dear!”

Lily jumped from her bed and raced down the stairs, badge in hand. She nearly steamrollered her father as she skidded to a halt outside the kitchen.

“Hungry are we?” he chuckled. Lily simply beamed and thrust the shiny badge in front of him. He obviously had no clue what the badge meant from his puzzled expression, but then again, her parents were muggles and Lily hadn’t expected them to understand.

She sighed and entered the kitchen to find her mother setting the table and Petunia sitting in her usual chair eating half a grapefruit. Lily sat down and waited for her parents to join the table before telling them the good news.

“I’ve been made Head Girl at school!” she shouted.

“Oh that’s wonderful sweetheart!” Mrs. Evans said while her husband gave his daughter a bone crushing hug.

“Petunia, don’t you have anything to say to your sister?” It was especially hard for Mr. Evans to see his daughters not getting along. If only Petunia could accept the fact that Lily was a witch. Or was it that Petunia was jealous of Lily…?

Petunia pushed herself away from the table and pretended to gag. “I think not.” She said as she turned her back to the table and proceeded to climb the stairs.

“I’m sorry about that, honey.” Lily’s mother said sadly.

Lily looked at her pancakes with tears in her eyes. “Why does she hate me? What did I do wrong?” she sobbed. She stood up and ran from the table, tears flowing freely.

When she reached her room she threw herself on her bed and cried for hours; no one disturbed her. When her eyes were finally dry, she went to her desk and sat down in the green desk chair. Lily reached into the drawer and pulled out three pieces of parchment, a raven quill and a bottle of her signature green ink. She addressed each piece of parchment to one of her three bet friends; Daniela Taylor, Lydia Samuels, and Madeline Loveless. She then wrote the same note to each of her friends.

Hey! Guess what! I’m Head Girl this year! I know, crazy right? I wonder who the Head Boy is. It’s probably Remus; he’s one of the smartest boys in our year. As long as it isn’t Potter or Snape, I don’t care.

So anyway, I was thinking I might go to Diagon Alley this Saturday. What about you? It’d be great if we could all meet up and shop together.

Well, let me know!

Lots of love,

Lily

Lily sealed each letter in separate envelopes and addressed them too. She went to her dresser and smiled at the small tawny owl that sat with its head under its wing on top of a large birdcage.

“Melina.” She whispered. The owl looked up at her and hooted softly. “Can you take these to Maddie, Dani and Lydia for me?” Melina hooted again and held her leg out. Lily tied the letters to Melina’s leg and sighed as she watched her owl fly into the sunset.

Perhaps tomorrow would be better…

“Oi! Jamesie! Get out of bed! We got our letters!” Sirius Black pounced on his best friend’s bed and sat on him.

“Ow! Get the bloody hell off of me!” James yelled. He was not a morning person.

Sirius ‘humph’ed and removed his rear from James’ face. He then decided that if he couldn’t sit on James, he would dance instead, simply to get on his nerves. Sirius began dancing a strange rainmaker dance while singing loudly, “Letters! Letters! We got our letters!” in a high pitched voice.

James rubbed his temples and sighed. Sirius just couldn’t let him sleep, could he? And James had wanted very much to finish the dream he had been having. A dream concerning himself and a certain redhead. He reached under his bed for a shoe to throw at his best friend. “Shut up!” he shouted as he hurled the shoe. James was pleased when he heard a soft thud and a quiet ‘ow’.

He grinned and grabbed the thick parchment envelope that was lying on the pillow next to him. He deftly ripped open the envelope and pulled out the enclosed letter. It read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

Enclosed you will find a list of school supplies required for your continued studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As usual, the Hogwarts Express will depart platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station on September the first at ten o’clock.

I am also delighted to inform you that you will remain Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and that you have been selected to serve as the Head Boy this year. You are to report to the Headmaster’s office after the feast to receive your instructions and meet the Head Girl.

Congratulations,

Minerva McGonagall

James had to read the letter again to be sure he hadn’t misread it. But there it was, Head Boy, clear as day.

“Head Boy.” He breathed.

Sirius looked up from the list of supplies. “Say something?” he said.

“They made me Head Boy.” James said again.

“You’re lying. There’s no way in hell that Dumbledore would ever, EVER, make you Head Boy.”

“Read it for yourself.” James shoved the letter into Sirius’ hands and reached for his envelope again. He tipped it upside down on his bed and let the rest of its contents spill out. There was the supply list and, sure enough, there was the badge. It shone bright silver in the early morning light that streamed through the window. James picked it up and turned it in his hands. On the front of the badge was a Gryffindor lion tangled around a capital ‘H’.

“I can’t believe this! I thought Moony would get it for sure! And now we can’t pull any pranks!” Sirius complained.

“Yeah, I though for sure it’d be Moony.” James said, “But we can still do pranks. We just have to be more careful about it.”

James stared at the badge for a few minutes before saying, “I wonder who the Head Girl is?”

Sirius smiled mischievously. “Bet its Evans.” He laughed as a blissful lopsided grin appeared on James’ face. “And the Heads have their own dormitory.” He added as an afterthought.

Sirius patted James on the back. “Come on Prongs, it’s breakfast time and I’m hungry.”

James sighed, coming out of his two-person dream world. “Padfoot, you’re always hungry.”

“All the more reason for me to go fill my stomach.” Sirius said over his shoulder as he sprinted out of James’ room. He must have been hungrier than ever because, for once, he actually beat James down the four flights of stairs to the dining room on the first floor.

“Morning boys.” James’ mother greeted the teenage boys as they entered the kitchen.

“So what’s for breakfast?” Sirius asked as he settled himself in his chair and held up his fork and knife, waiting for his plate to fill.

“Pancakes, eggs, and hash browns, Master Black.” said Lock, the house elf. He had appeared out of nowhere (as house elves tend to do) with a large golden platter. Lock snapped his fingers and the food appeared on the platter, which he then set on the table.

“Lock, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Doggie.” He grinned; tormenting house elves was such fun.

“Yes sir, Master... erm… Doggy. Lock will go hold a fork in a toaster now for his disobedience." Poor Lock’s head drooped as he walked away toward the kitchen.

“Oh Lock, don’t hurt yourself. I meant it as a joke.” Okay, so Sirius didn’t want the poor elf to hurt itself. So what? Now if it were that rotten house elf that his mother had back home, well, Kreacher could just go sit in the fire for an hour or two.

“Thank you sir. You are most gracious sir.” Lock said nervously, unsure as to whether Sirius was joking again or not. When it seemed that Sirius had lost all interest in him, Lock returned to the kitchen and the other house elves to start preparing lunch.

“So, any news about school? Anything new?” Mrs. Potter asked as they dug into their breakfasts.

“You’ll never guess.” James said grinning.

“Well they’ve kept you as Quidditch Captain, I should think.” She began. “What else could there be? Prefect?” she asked hopefully.

Sirius snorted into his orange juice. “Prefects are sissies."

Mrs. Potter gave him a semi-stern look then smiled slightly. “Well then, tell me. I hate being kept in suspense. You know that dear.”

James pulled the badge and the letter out of his jeans pocket and handed them to his mother. She read the letter quickly and then looked at the badge.

She was silent for a moment. “Mum?” James asked tentatively.

“Oh, my little Jamesie is Head Boy!" she squealed, reaching over the table to envelope her only child in the type of motherly hug that would mortify someone if anyone else happened to see it. James shot Sirius a death glare as he snickered behind his juice glass.

When the show of motherly love was over, and they were all settled back in their chairs, eating their breakfasts, Sirius asked, “So when are we going to Diagon Alley?”

“Well, Remus and Peter will probably go on Saturday. It is the last weekend of the summer holiday, after all.” James said.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll go on Saturday.” Sirius went back to eating his food while James stared at the wall, wondering if he would see a certain someone in Diagon Alley.