Rain

James dragged his feet purposely as he ran his fingers along the smooth surface of the inside of the train. Finding something to do with his hands was the first sign of impending boredom. Next, he would probably check for amusing reflections of himself in random items.

He checked compartment after compartment, doing the final sweep for anyone that might have been left behind. In a spur of the moment decision to impress Lily, he had offered to do this task and save her the trouble. She had protested to him doing it by himself, a suspicious glint in the corner of her eyes concerning his motives, but she had ultimately given in and he had inwardly done the happy dance.

Usually, he and the others would be together right now, but he had to let them go on without him. After all, duty called didn’t it. He sighed loudly.

It wasn't like he wasn't glad that he had been given this ‘wondrous and most unexpected gift’ as Sirius had called it when he told him, but it was already starting to feel like a chore; a very taxing and time consuming chore. The elation of being Head Boy with Lily as Head Girl was very slowly starting to ware off.

Would this cut down on the time that he and the others spent together between classes and on weekends? Would it interfere with his concentration for Quidditch?

Great. Put the guy who breaks the rules to make sure others don’.

“Anyone in here?” he called in a bored voice, more out of responsibility than anything else.

There was no answer but he swore he heard a noise in the back. He craned his neck round to the side and strained his ear for the faintest sound.

“Hello?”… “Anyone?”

Still no answer. He shrugged it off and turned around to leave when there was a loud crash.

He sprinted halfway down the corridor to a door that was open slightly and looked inside. A small boy was sprawled out on the floor with his trunk lying beside him at an odd angle.

James figured it probably fell out off the over head compartment when the boy was trying to extract it himself. He was still miffed that the boy didn’t answer when he called out though. Seriously, who does that?

“You alright?” James extended his hand. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

“Thanks.”

“Small aren’t you,” James said patting the boy on his head and sneering. The boy barely reached his stomach when he stood next to him. James wondered idly if he was ever that tiny.

The boy smacked away his hand indignantly. “Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m already fourteen years old,” he said loudly, his thin blonde hair standing on edge. He reminded him of a cat, with that I-didn’t-bring-that-carcass-of-a-dead-mouse-in-your-room fake innocent look and those easily extended claws when cornered.

“Yeah, yeah. Calm down.” James waved him away like an annoying fly, watching him struggle with his trunk while he casually propped on the door.

“You should be thankful I came. I don’t suppose you’d have this much mouth if you were halfway back home right now would you,” James teased.

To James’ annoyance, the boy merely glared at him. Ungrateful brat. How dare he not be intimidated? “Come on.” James pushed up off the wall and started out.

“Wait you! Aren’t you going to help me with this?”

James continued walking. “Why? I didn’t tell you to pack your entire house in it did I?”

“Please?” he begged and put on an extremely innocent face with wide, watery eyes and a quivering lip.

“No,” James said firmly. His act was good but not good enough.

“Please, it’s really heavy and I can’t lift it on my own. What kind of Head Boy are you. Aren’t you supposed to help others?” He pleaded in a whiny voice.

James took the blow and they stared each other down in a battle of wills.

After a minute, James rolled his eyes but gave in and helped him out. It just wasn't in him to leave the kid hanging, even though he didn’t miss the self-satisfied smirk on the little bugger’s face when he realized James had caved in.

“What’s in this anyway?” James complained when he bent down to lift it. It was definitely heavier than usual.

“Uh…” the boy scratched his head and smiled. “Just some…stuff”

“Stuff you say?”

“Yup. Stuff. To get back at those stupid prats that eased me my own sleeping draught,” he said bitterly. James had a feeling he wasn't supposed ti hear the last part and laughed. I remember when Sirius did that to me in out second year. “You’d have to be a real idiot to fall for that.”

The boy bristled. “I am not. My uncle is a teacher here you know. I can do pretty much whatever I want at this school,” he boasted.

James scoffed. “If you can do whatever you want then why don’t you carry this stupid trunk? Who is your uncle anyway?”

The boy smiled smugly and winked his blue eyes. He deliberately let the moment drag out until they stepped off the train. He reminded James at himself at that age, and he certainly didn’t lack that mischievous look.

“Professor Slughorn.”

A look of surprise crossed James’ face at first but quickly erased the look to intentionally deflate the moment. “Professor Slughorn you say?” he asked indifferently.

“Yeah.” The boy looked rather put out now, like he just spent hours inflating a balloon only to have it popped in his face.

“What’s your name?”

“Charlie.”

“How come I’ve never seen you before?”

“Who knows four eyes,” he replied rudely, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking over his shoulder.

“Oi, watch the lip,” James warned mildly, dragging the heavy trunk and throwing it into a carriage. James smiled to himself; he definitely had the last laugh. How pointless that was considering this was a small child, he tried not to think about.

He pointed to his badge but Charlie looked completely unfazed. “Ha! Fat load a good that’ll do ya. I see you and your mates sneaking around the castle at night.”

James smile faded. “What?”

Charlie laughed, “You’re just as bad as the rest of us.”

“Wait, how do you know what we do at night? Not saying that we do...do anything of course…”

Charlie gave him another sly wink. Apparently his good mood was back. “Don’t worry. I wont tell anyone. But if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to ask. We’ve got to stick together.”

“Right, I’ll do that,” James said dryly, choosing to end their little conversation, though he was till curious as to what they were.

“Hey, I’m serious!” he heard Charlie shout from behind him when he turned away and started walking.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered.

“Prongs.”

James turned around. How did that kid know his name?

“Prongs. Over here!”

It wasn't the boy; it was Sirius calling him over. James wrapped his cloak tighter and smiled. His smile however slipped momentarily when he saw none other than Monte, standing there with his hand out in mid-air.

He couldn’t stop the scowl that came across his face but he succeeded in ignoring him. He wouldn’t let that idiot ruin his first day, but it was hard seeing that the prick lived to annoy him.

Ever since their first encounter in second year, they had just continued to collide like two crashing waves going in opposite directions. They were also some little accidents that happened to James that he suspected were planned out. Too precise to be coincidental, and for some mysterious reason, Monte was always the first person he saw or the one person his eyes would land on amidst it all.

He shook his head and scattered those thoughts. Monte wasn't important- his revenge on the posh Slytherin would be- but not right now.

He inhaled and replaced his smile. “Sirius, I didn’t know you were still here.”

In truth, he was grateful that they had decided to stay and wait for him. Remus and Peter were both inside the carriage, smiling madly. Sirius draped his arm casually over James’ shoulder.

“What? And leave the Head Boy to fend for himself and endure the cruelty of a lonely ride. Never. Come on, your carriage awaits your highness.” He shoved James inside and then climbed in.

“Shit, padfoot, do you have to be so rough?”

James rubbed the knee that had collided with the carriage wall.

“I’m so sorry your highness.” Sirius pretended to bow. “I’ll be more cautious in the future.

“Cut it out,” James mumbled uncomfortably.

Across from them, Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius. “I’d say the odds of that are slim.”

“I still can’t believe our very own prongs is head boy,” Peter said loudly, “and here I was looking forward to some fun.”

“Well, James has responsibilities this year,” Remus said quietly.

“Yes, we know Mr. moony.” Sirius shook his head and tousled his wavy hair, grinning mischievously. “But like wormtail, over there, I was looking forward to some good ol’ maraudering too.”

“Maraudering isn’t a word, Sirius,” Remus corrected idly.

Sirius shrugged. “Oh? Well, in the world of Sirius Black, it is.”

“As are a lot of other interesting things I’m sure.”

“Yeah, including a giant teddy bear I like to call moony.”

Remus looked uncomfortable and focused his gaze outside. Peter and Sirius sniggered and whispered among themselves. James coughed loudly but no one paid him any attention. He smiled to himself. He wouldn’t compromise time with the marauders for anything at all.

He only had a badge but what did that really say. As far as he was concerned, it only gave him a reason to be outside after hours and an excuse to top it off.

The carriage rocked gently as it steadily approached the castle. The lights looked extremely bright and silhouetted the sprawling castle against the black sky.

When it slowed to a stop and they climbed out. Remus stretched his long legs and arms. Now that James thought about it, he did look rather fragile.

“Feeling alright Remus?”

Sirius came close to inspect him when he heard James’ question. “You do look kinda pale.” James automatically glanced up at the sky but the thin layer of grey clouds revealed nothing. “I don’t think the full moon’s near.”

“That’s right.” Sirius felt his forehead. “You’re burning up.”

Remus jerked his head away quickly. “Er…I’m fine. Must be a cold. There’s been a lot of rain lately.”

Sirius shrugged, accepting Remus’ answer but James felt that something else was bothering him. Seven years in close proximity with him made him an expert of sorts. Sirius, of course, didn’t notice because Sirius was well… Sirius and would ask him if he were all right if he happened to be on fire.

“Well alright men, lets move along shall we?” Sirius led the way.

They all nodded and followed the rest of students filing in to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall as always, looked stunning for the start of year feast, but it seemed more intense when James looked around. He pushed his glasses further up his nose. Everything seemed so bright and new, or maybe he was just now taking the time to really look at it. He couldn’t explain it but a strange feeling hit him so hard, he had to stop dead in his tracks.

Thousands of candles floated above them warming the room with yellow light. All the golden dinner ware caught the light and shone. When he finally closed his mouth, he realized he’d been staring.

But why?

It was like he was back in his first year, entering the school for the very first time and being completely in awe at the grandness of it all. After that it just seemed to be there. Always there. Strange that he should feel the same way his first time seeing it and his… My what? My last time…

“Come on James, you’re acting like you’ve never been here before,” Peter called. “I’ve saved you a seat.” He and the others had already taken seats at the table. James finally closed his mouth and slid in beside him.

Peter yawned. “I’m starving,” he said in a whiney voice. “The sorting always takes so long.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem, Pete,” James teased, glad that he had something else to focus his attention on.

“Yeah, I think it has more to do with that bottomless pit of a stomach you have,” Sirius added, shifting around.

“Who knew someone so small could eat so much? He eats more than Sirius does.”

“I’m not that small.” Peter rested his head on the table. Remus gave him a sympathetic look but was more concerned with the little movement Sirius was making beside him than anything else.

James was a little surprised. He sounded a bit serious. Sirius patted Peter on the head and a picture of the boy from earlier flashed in his head. Small people were really defensive. He snorted.

“What?” Sirius demanded, hating to be left out of anything potentially funny.

“Nothing.”

Dumbledore rose from his seat, his green robes sweeping the floor, the gold stars that littered it danced. He raised his hands and everyone fell into silence. Everyone except Sirius that is.

“James.” Sirius whispered urgently. “James!”

“Sirius, I think it’s my duty to tell you that I should probably be listening to what Dumbledore is saying.”

“No need to worry, Moony’ll tell us.”

“No I won’t,” Remus whispered from the corner of his mouth.

“Yes you will,” Sirius whispered back harshly. Remus narrowed his eyes.

“I’ve been thinking, you know this year being our last, how about we go out with a bang.”

“Bang?”

The dreaded glint that inhabited Sirius’ eyes was back and glinting like there was no tomorrow. It was a dangerous thing James reminded himself. It was responsible for three quarters of the time he spent in detention.

“Well not literally of course.” Sirius scoffed and waved it away.

“Yeah because that’s so inconceivable,” James muttered rolling his eyes.

“It is. At first I thought that you being head snitch would be a problem-”

“But when I first told you, you said it was a wonderful gift.”

“but-”

“But what?”

“But I see now that it could work to out advantage-”

“-wait, head what?”

“I mean, it could really aid in our cause-”

“No Padfoot, James has to uphold the rules now,” Remus hissed inconspicuously.

“This from the bloke who was running around with us even though he was supposed to be a ‘holier than thou’ prefect?” Peter chimed in with a smirk.

Sirius’ mouth spread into a gigantic smile. Remus completely ignored them and focused on the sorting of the first years. Sirius and Peter looked pleased with themselves and even James smiled.

“So, what do you say prongs,” Peter whispered, giving him a pleading. He and Charlie really were familiar, James thought. James wrung his fingers and looked for an excuse to give them. “Er…well.” He scratched his head.

“Well…” Sirius prompted impatiently.

He got away with mischief in the past but would it work now? His eyes caught a glimpse of Lily who was sitting a couple of seats away. She was depending on him to set some sort of example… of some sort. Honestly the whole thing confused him. He could pretend to. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

James opened his mouth to give his answer when the hall suddenly erupted in voices. The feast had begun, the golden plates were now filled with food and everyone was eating. Sirius pulled a plate of mashed potatoes toward him and started eating wildly. James breathed a sigh of relief and piled an enormous amount of food on his plate.

Remus barely picked at his food, merely re- arranging his vegetable by colour. He ate a lot of vegetables to keep healthy but he still looked rather weak. James tilted his head, well weaker that usual I suppose. I’ll have to remember to have a talk with him.

James’ eyes strayed down the table to Lily. She was chatting idly with her friends. He found himself staring at her and the way her nose crinkled up when she ate. For some reason he always found himself staring at her. Not for some reason but the main reason- which was that he was, to put it mildly, obsessed.

Sirius flicked a pea at his glasses to get his attention. “Padfoot, there are more civilized ways to get my attention you know.”

“Don’t think you’ve gotten away mate, I think I know the reason for this new change in ideals, and that reason has red hair and-” Sirius was talking and jabbing at him with his fork when he suddenly broke off and threw it over the table. It landed near James foot.

“James, uh, could you hand me that, please?”

James eyed him skeptically. “Sirius, you threw that over here.”

“It was an accident, now could you please get it for me?”

Sirius was smiling strangely, it could almost be considered a grimace and Remus’ head was stuck looking to his left. When Sirius grabbed the back of Remus neck and turned it to face forward forcefully, James finally realized that they were staring at something and looked around.

His eyes landed on Lily as they always did. Her chin was propped on her hands and she wasn't eating. She waved at someone sitting at the table behind them. His eyes must be playing tricks on him.

Lily couldn’t possibly be waving to someone over there. That was the Slytherin table behind them.

“James, the fork. I’ll starve.”

Who could Lily possibly…

“James, I’m beginning to think you don’t care about me,” Sirius persisted, nudging Remus in his side for his lack of effort. Peter hadn’t looked up from his plate.

“Look! It’s a rogue bludger!” Sirius shouted. Peter snorted and James ignored him.

James tried to be as discreet as possible. He bent down and pretended to pick up the fork, while scanning the Slytherin table.

At first he thought it was Snivellus, because he always tried to get Lily’s attention. But he realized that Snape was staring at someone else, the same someone who was pretending to eat but obviously sending little looks and smiles her way. And she was sending them back!

James inhaled and calmly handed Sirius his fork back. Sirius hesitated before he reached for it, half afraid that James would skewer him with it, but to his surprise, James only continued eating.

“Er…James,” Remus bent his head to look at James’ face. “Prongs?”

“Yes, Moony?” James was cutting into his steak with his knife at an agonizingly slow rate, and Remus and Sirius exchanged looks.

“Are you all right?” Peter asked. He put some space between them when James sawed through the meat and started scrapping the plate.

“Of course.”

“This is entirely your fault you know,” Sirius complained, pointing his fork at Remus. “Just sat there and stared. Honestly.”

“Oh shut up Sirius, like you throwing your fork over there was a good idea in the first place. That was what made him look.”

“At least it was an idea and it could have worked. Now look at him.” Sirius motioned with his head.

James was still carving into his plate, looking perfectly civilized even though the knife was grating against the plate loudly.

“When do you think he’ll notice the steak’s not there anymore?”

“Shut up, Sirius.”

“You like saying that don’t you?”

“I’ll stop. It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“I told you both that I’m fine,” James said slowly, setting the knife and fork aside. His brain understood that he was talking but for the life of him his senses couldn’t react. Of course he had to have been dreaming just now. Yes, a dream. What other possible explanation could there be? He laughed, a small chuckle at first until he broke down laughing, shaking his head at his nonsense.

“Great, he’s gone mad now.”

The plates disappeared and the table was filled with desserts. James passed on it. Mostly because sweet things gave him migraines, but he had surprisingly lost his appetite.

“And it has nothing to do with that self righteous git smiling at Lily.”

“Look, James, I don’t think you should make such a big deal about this,” Remus said soothingly. “It’s probably just a friendly gesture.”

Everyone nodded in consent eagerly. James’ strange behavior was more disturbing than if he was actually shouting. This was something new to them. Lily usually kept to herself. There was never ‘someone’ of the opposite sex she paid special attention to other than Snape, and that was the past.

James was so jealous now that he was forgetting to shout.

“James, what are you thinking,” Remus asked hesitantly, afraid his comment might have driven James over the deep end.

James turned his head slightly and glanced behind him at the long haired boy holding over a whole chocolate cake and slowly turned back to look at them. Remus flinched at the manic look in his eyes.

He adjusted his glasses on his nose and kept his voice so low it leaked venom. “Nothing much Sirius. Just how’d I’d like to go out with a bang and who I’d like to be on the receiving end.”