There's really no excuse for how late I've posted this. I've been on holidays for nearly 4 weeks.

So, this chapter is the one I've been looking most forward to writing, as this is where things start to go off in a different direction from your usual JamesxLily story. Fingers crossed that people like it!

Hmmm... who's going to do the disclaimer today...

Fred: hello Snatch...

George: we've come to crash your disclaimer.

S: by all means, do. It was getting to the point when I would have had to use Filch in my disclaimer...

F: OH NO!

G: you're so lucky we're here!

F: well, Snatch usually gets us disclaimer people to say that she owns nothing, -

G: -but in this chapter, she actually owns a lot of characters. In fact,-

F: -basically all the prefects mentioned are the inventions of Snatch.

S: (they're based on friends)

F: but the other characters are,-

G: -regrettably,-

F: - not hers

S: you heard them!

(btw, I have stopped the competition, because no-one was interested)

By the time James had managed to convince himself to get out of bed, have a shower and get dressed, it was nearly eight. When he got down to breakfast, he saw he was not the only late riser; in fact, there were less than fifty people in the hall, all with various expressions of tiredness on their faces. The only people who seemed to be awake were Lily and Remus. Lily was ruffling through a pile of papers with great enthusiasm, a quill tucked behind her ear, and Remus was downing his bacon and eggs in what only could be described as a wolfish manner.

'G'morning.' James yawned as he sat down and began to help himself to food. 'Toast, Lily?'

Lily stuck out a hand, grabbed a piece of toast from the stack James was offering, and stuffed it into her mouth without looking away from her papers.

'Is there a reason you two are so enthusiastic on the first day of school, other than the fact that you're both raving lunatics?'

Lily waved her hands impatiently.

'First day as Head-Girl, James, I've got a lot to organise. We've got out first prefect meeting tonight and I have to work out shifts and timetables and-'

'Who's Zoë Trouve-Wrenns?' James asked, peering at a sheet of parchment at the top of the pile.

'She's a Hufflepuff fifth year. One of the prefects.'

James picked up the parchment and examined it. 'Why did I even bother asking? Look here, you got everything written about her. 'Birthday: 26th July, favourite food: enchiladas, last book borrowed from library...' why do you have all this information?'

Lily snatched the paper away from him. 'Just a bit of background info, that's all.'

'Whatever you say,' James said through a mouthful of toast.

The first day back at school was highly entertaining. Several of James's classmates had gone into various stages of mental breakdowns when McGonagall handed them their first homework for the year, a 4 foot essay on Animagi. The fact that N.E. would be taking place at the end of the year was not lost on anybody; each teacher mentioned it at least twice during their lesson, and the increase in the workload was obvious.

'4 feet by Friday! That's ridiculous! How am I expected to do that?' James complained as he sank into an armchair in Gryffindor tower.

'Considering it's on Animagi, I thought you'd find it easy.' Remus replied, not looking up from his book.

'Well, I've got other things to do apart from write an essay, you know! How you manage to get through those dictionaries of yours as well as all your work, I'll never know.' James cast a dark eye at Remus.

'It's not a dictionary, it's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and it's quite interesti-'

'Isn't that the highly depressing one about that woman whose life is a complete tragedy?' Lily had come over to their group.

'That would be the one.'

James groaned. 'It's not time for the Prefect meeting, is it?'

'It is indeed. And don't be so negative about it. Prefect meetings aren't that bad.'

James sighed heavily and stuck out a hand. Lily pulled him of the armchair.

'Come on Head Boy, if we don't hurry we're going to be late. You coming, Remus?

The Prefect lounge was empty when Remus James and Lily arrived.

'You guys get a lounge?'

'And a bathroom.' Lily replied smugly.

James huffed loudly and sat down in one of the chairs. If he had known about the luxuries the prefects got, he would have started behaving years ago.

The first people to arrive were the two fifth year Hufflepuffs.

'Hi. I'm Zoë, and this,' said the girl, poking the boy, 'is Robert. But don't bother with him, he only speaks troll.' Robert protested.

The Slytherins showed up as Zoe and Robert went to sit down. They eyed James and Lily with contempt and found seats together at the far side of the room.

Finally the rest of the prefects arrived, with the last being a Ravenclaw who had her nose in a book. James stared, amazed, as she managed to find a seat next to Zoë the Hufflepuff without taking her eyes off her novel.

'It seems you have a rival bookworm Remus.'

Remus's reply was cut off by Lily.

'Ready to start?' she looked at James, and he started. That's right, he was here as Head Boy, not as a gate-crasher. He was actually meant to be doing something.

Lily shouted for everyone to shut up.

'Hi everyone! I'm Lily Evans, Head Girl this year, and this is James Potter, who's the Head boy.'

Robert the Hufflepuff put his hand up.

'How come he's Head Boy? He wasn't even a prefect last year!' there was a murmur of agreement from some of the other students.

'Dumbledore seemed to think James was the best person for the job, so if you have a problem with the Head Boy appointment I suggest you take it up with him,' replied Lily curtly.

'But-' Robert stopped suddenly: Zoë had hit him over the head with her Ravenclaw friend's book.

'So, as I was saying,' Lily continued, 'we're your Heads for this year, so if you've got any questions, you come see us.'

Lily looked expectantly at James, and James realised he needed to speak. Trying hard to remember some of the things the notice he had received with the badge said, James spoke.

'Your job as prefects is to make sure that a reasonable amount of order is kept in the halls in between classes. You will also be given evening shifts to patrol the corridors. Lily has set up timetables for you. You will be patrolling in pairs which have been decided for you.'

There was a large groan from everyone in the room. Lily cleared her throat loudly.

'You will be in a pair with someone from your own house. If you have a serious issue regarding your pair, come and see me right away.'

Lily tapped a pile of papers with her wand, and they flew out to everyone in the room.

James stood back and watched as people compared papers, found their partners, and discussed patrol duties. Robert the Hufflepuff had started complaining loudly, so Zoë's Ravenclaw friend had supplied Zoë with a gigantic encyclopaedia to whack him round the head with. Remus was watching on, amused, and James turned to him.

'Is it usually this chaotic?'

Remus laughed. 'Sometimes.'

By the time the prefect meeting had ended and everyone else had left, James was exhausted.

'But you hardly did anything!' Lily complained.

James threw his hands up in the air. 'I acted responsibly and maturely! That's hard enough work as it is!'

To James' surprise, Lily laughed.

'Come on Head Boy, let's get back to Gryffindor tower. I'm sure Sirius is waiting to hear how horrible the meeting was.'

Remus chuckled. 'I'm sure he is.' He offered his arm out to Lily, who looped her arm with his, and together they headed out the door.

James watched, amused, and then followed suit. Lily was really one-of-a-kind.