Chapter Text
July 8, 1977
From Minerva McGonagall to Lily Evans
Dear Miss Evans,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been chosen to represent Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Head Girl this upcoming school year.
In your role as a prefect these last few years, you have shown yourself to be a responsible leader, as well as a talented witch and a kind friend. Both Professor Dumbledore and I are confident that you will lead your fellow students with both diligence and grace in the year to come.
I am sure you are anxious to know who your male counterpart will be. I regret to inform you that the role of Head Boy has not yet been assigned; we are still considering all our options. However, rest assured that a Head Boy will be chosen before the start of school.
Once again, Miss Evans, I am delighted to work alongside you this upcoming year. You’ve thoroughly impressed Dumbledore and I ever since you first stepped foot in this school six years ago, and I couldn’t be more proud to have you in my house.
Regards,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
***
July 17, 1977
From Marlene McKinnon to Lily Evans
Lily,
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Second of all, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME???
Really, Lily, I thought we were best friends! I thought I would be the first one to know that you’d been chosen to be Head Girl! But instead, I had to hear the news from Alice Fortesque of all people, who told me when I ran into her in Diagon Alley this week, and she says she only knew about it in the first place because apparently you wrote to Frank Longbottom last week asking whether he was Head Boy. So let me get this straight: you told Frank Longbottom (and, by extension, Alice Fortesque) that you were Head Girl before you told ME, Marlene McKinnon, your BEST FRIEND? This is ridiculous!!!
I’m only joking. Mostly. But, in all seriousness, Lily, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! You absolutely deserve this. I can’t believe my best friend is Head Girl!
(Side note - does this mean I can no longer sneak Firewhiskey from Hogsmeade into our dormitory? Or will you turn a blind eye to that? I hope the latter.)
Congratulations, and all my love,
Marlene
***
July 19, 1977
From Remus Lupin to Lily Evans
Lily,
I hope your summer has been going well so far. Mine has felt a bit secluded; Sirius and James are off on holiday in Italy with James’ parents, and Peter lives far from me, so I haven’t seen him yet. But it was quite nice to hear from you.
To answer your question, no, I am not Head Boy. To be completely transparent with you, I was offered the position several weeks ago, but I declined. I have been dealing with some minor health issues recently that would make it difficult for me to carry out the role, which I explained to Dumbledore and McGonagall. I will still act as a prefect for this upcoming school year, but I will not be Head Boy.
I am not sure who will be chosen. I’ve heard through the grapevine (i.e. through Marlene) that Frank Longbottom, the Ravenclaw prefect, has not been offered the position. That leaves only the Hufflepuff and Slytherin prefects, Amos Diggory and Severus Snape. For all of our sakes – especially yours – I hope it’s Diggory.
Then again, does one necessarily need to have past prefect experience to be a Head student? The rules have always been a bit vague on that. Perhaps McGonagall and Dumbledore have something unexpected up their sleeve. Who knows?
I’ll see you on the train,
Remus Lupin
***
July 21, 1977
From Lily Evans to Marlene McKinnon
Marlene,
I’m so, so, so sorry that I didn’t tell you the news right away. Can you ever forgive me, my dearest and most beautiful friend? I feel like I should make up some excuse for why I haven’t written to you – like that I’ve been battling dragonpox or something disgusting like that – but the truth is that I’ve just been distracted.
I’ve spent the last two weeks working tirelessly to figure out who my partner, the Head Boy, is going to be! I find it impossible to believe that McGonagall and Dumbledore haven’t made a decision yet. What could possibly be taking those two so long? I’ve written to ALL the male prefects – Remus Lupin, Frank Longbottom, Amos Diggory, and EVEN Severus Snape (though it deeply pained me to do it) – asking whether any of them knew anything. And guess what? They were all useless! Nobody knows bloody anything!
Maybe there won’t be a Head Boy this year at all. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I can easily be Head Girl on my own, without a male counterpart. In fact, I think I would be MORE efficient without a male counterpart. Perhaps I should write to McGonagall and let her know I’m confident in my abilities to lead the school on my own. (Though, I know she’d write back and tell me I’m being silly.)
I don’t know, Marlene. I have a sick feeling in my stomach about all of this. Why hasn’t anybody been chosen yet? McGonagall told me that she and Dumbledore were considering “all their options.” Does that mean they might pick somebody completely random, who’s never even been a prefect before? That’s what Remus suspects. I hope that’s not the case!
I just want to know what’s going on so I can stop worrying about it and enjoy the rest of the summer. Is that so much to ask?
Anyway, I hope you’re having a wonderful summer so far. Let’s meet up soon? Petunia has been boring me to death with all her wedding-planning talk. I need to hang out with someone from the Wizarding World before I go insane.
Love,
Lily
***
July 31, 1977,
From James Potter to Lily Evans,
Evans,
I believe I’ve set a new record this summer. It’s nearly August and I haven’t written to you once. Are you proud of me? It’s really taken quite a bit of self-restrait, if I’m being honest with you, but you seemed very serious at the end of last term when you told me to “shove off and stop bothering you,” so that’s exactly what I did. I shoved off and I stopped bothering you.
Unfortunately, all things must come to an end, so I’m back on my antics and back to bothering you.
Did I tell you I’m spending this summer in Italy? And I already know you’re judging me for saying that, probably calling me a “rich, pampered, privileged little trust-fund brat” in your head or something (you have such a way with words, Evans), but really, my intention is not to brag. I just thought you might genuinely be interested. I know you’ve spoken before about your love of Italian culture, specifically Italian food, and I must say, Evans, you were right. Italian food is all it’s cracked up to be!
Right, well, my good mate Sirius is watching me write this over my shoulder and he reckons I’m “stalling” and I need to “get on with it already,” so I suppose I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you why I’m writing.
You may want to sit down for this. Are you sitting? I don’t believe you are, so let me write it one more time: please, Evans, sit down. You’ll thank me later. (Right, maybe I am stalling a bit now.)
Time to be serious. No more jokes.
The real reason I’m writing to you, Evans, is because McGonagall and Dumbledore have asked me to be Head Boy this year, and I’ve accepted. I know this will come as a surprise, and probably not a very welcome one, if I know anything about your feelings toward me. I hear you’ve been sending an entire army of owls all over Great Britain these last few weeks, trying to figure out who your partner was going to be. Well, surprise – it’s me. I know I was probably not your first choice, or your second or third or even tenth choice. So for that, I’m sorry to be the deliverer of this news.
But Evans, from the bottom of my heart, I do believe I have changed in the last few years – and, apparently, so do McGonagall and Dumbledore. I hope you can have a little bit of faith in me and trust that I will be a good partner, and that we can put our history aside and work together for the good of the school.
I really want this partnership to work out, Evans. And I think it can, if we both put in the effort. Maybe we can even be friends at the end of this. Crazier things have happened.
Anyway, I won’t keep dawdling on. I have no clue if you’ve even made it this far in the letter. Sirius reckons you probably ripped the whole thing up before you got to paragraph three. I sincerely hope that’s not the case.
Hope you’re having an otherwise good summer,
James Potter
***
August 2, 1977,
From Lily Evans to Marlene McKinnon
Marlene,
If God exists, then he’s playing a terrible practical joke on me right now.
Please send thoughts and prayers,
Lily
***
August 4, 1977,
From Marlene McKinnon to Lily Evans
Lily,
Oh, dear. I’ve just heard the news from Remus who heard it from Sirius who heard it from James. Let’s meet up in Diagon Alley ASAP for a long chat and potentially a stiff drink (I suspect you need one.)
Sending thoughts and prayers,
Marlene
***
August 9, 1977,
From Lily Evans to Minerva McGonagall
Dear Professor McGonagall,
First of all, I sincerely want to thank you for offering me the position of Head Girl. I’m honored that you and Dumbledore are instilling your faith in me, and I’m excited to get started.
I do have one question for you. There’s a rumour going around that James Potter has been offered the role of Head Boy. I have looked through the archives of previous Hogwarts leadership over the last century, and I’ve never seen a single instance of a Head student being chosen without having previous prefect experience. If, by some small chance, this rumor regarding Potter is actually true, then I would love to know why this long-standing precedent has suddenly been ignored.
Thank you,
Lily Evans
***
August 14, 1977
From Minerva McGonagall to Lily Evans
Dear Miss Evans,
You are correct – in the last century, every Head student at Hogwarts has had previous experience as a prefect. However, it is not necessarily a rule that a Head student must have previous experience as a prefect. In special cases where a non-prefect student is determined to be the best option to lead the school, exceptions can be made. Professor Dumbledore and I have chosen to make that exception with Mr. Potter.
Mr. Potter is a very talented Wizard in many areas. He is diligent in his studies, he has past leadership experience through his role as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and he is incredibly popular with the student body, which is a trait that cannot be overlooked. Many younger boys at the school look up to and admire him, which is why we believe he will be a respected leader.
Both Professor Dumbledore and I are aware of your tumultuous history with Mr. Potter. You two have not always seen eye-to-eye on certain matters. However, we believe that you two are old enough now to put those differences aside for the good of the school. We sincerely believe that Mr. Potter has numerous qualities that will make him a fine Head Boy, and we are looking forward to watching the two of you lead the school together.
Regards,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
***
August 17, 1977
From James Potter to Lily Evans
Evans,
I don’t mean to keep bothering you, but it’s been several weeks since I wrote and I haven’t received a response back from you yet. I’m starting to get worried. I understand you may still be angry, but I hope you are angry at the situation instead of being angry at me. It’s not my fault that I was chosen. I didn’t ask for this.
By the way, I’m back home in England. Maybe we can meet up in Diagon Alley to talk about this in person and make amends? I don’t want to start the school year off on the wrong foot. I’ll be there next week to pick up my school supplies; maybe we can shop together. Let me know. And if the answer is no, at least write back to say that, so that I know you’re alive.
James Potter
***
August 19, 1977
From Lily Evans to James Potter
Potter,
Yes, I am alive.
I apologize for not responding to you earlier. I have had a lot on my mind. But thank you for letting me know that you were chosen.
Regarding Diagon Alley, the answer is no. I have already picked up my school supplies with Marlene and I have no intention of going back to that mad, crowded place.
Lily Evans
***
August 21, 1977
From Sirius Black to Lily Evans
Evans,
My dearest Lily-flower, how has your summer been?!?! Mine has been truly splendid. Not sure if you heard, but my best mate took me to Italy with his parents for a few months and we ate pizza and pasta to our hearts content. Fair warning, we may be fifty kilograms heavier by the time you see us in September.
Well, Evans, I know this may come as a shock, but I’m not writing this letter just to talk about Italian carbohydrates. I’m actually writing to talk about our mutual acquaintance, James Potter, and this Head Boy business.
Pardon my language, dearest Lily, but there’s really no need to be a cold-hearted bitch about this whole thing (or, in the lovely language of Italian, a cold-hearted cagna). It’s not James’ fault he charmed the pants off Dumbledore and McGonagall and became Head Boy! Seriously, cut him a little slack, will you? He really cares about his new responsibility and he wants to do a good job. He also wants to make sure you have a good experience with him as your partner – but that will never happen if you’ve already made up your mind about hating him before the school year even starts! Seriously, Evans, give him a chance!
If the roles were reversed, Evans, would James be treating you like this? I want you to seriously consider that.
See you on the train, my pretty flower,
Sirius Black
***
August 23, 1977
From Lily Evans to James Potter
Potter,
Hi again. Have you already gone to Diagon Alley? I just realized I forgot to pick up quills when I was there a few weeks ago, so I’ll need to make another trip. I’ll be there tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Maybe we can meet up after all.
No worries if not, though. You’ve probably already finished your shopping anyway.
Lily Evans
***
August 23, 1977
From James Potter to Lily Evans
Evans,
I’ll be there. See you tomorrow.
James Potter