When dinner was over, James and Lily saw to it that the prefects were guiding the First Years to their common rooms and went to collect Filch's latest list of things that were banned from the school corridors. "Don't know what Dumbledore's thinking making you Headboy," Filch muttered as he dug through his desk for the most up to date list. "Greatest offender of every rule in the school, you are." He glared at James, "What'd you do, bewitch him?" 

"He earned the badge," Lily said, "By being a model student."

"Model student!" Filch grumbled. "Got a drawer full of offense cards with his name on it right behind me - model my  -- Aah!" He was interrupted quite suddenly by Peeves the Poltergeist, who had zipped through the wall, directly through the back of Filch, spinning to come to a ghostly seat on the edge of the caretaker's desk.

Peeves kicked his feet over the edge of the desk as he hovered, beaming at James. "Peevesy's just heard the NEEEEEEWS!" he sang, "Joyous day, giddy day, when James Potty is the Headboy-ee-ay!" He suddenly spun off the desk and into the air, just as Filch took up a sheath of papers to swat at the poltergeist with, as though whacking him with the Daily Prophet would do a thing to deter Hogwart's most notoriously naughty spirit.

"OOOOOUTTT!" Filch yelped, jumping up to wave his paper.

"Yup, I am, Peeves," James said, nodding as Peeves zipped about, just out of reach of Filch.

"Peevesy has also heard that there's a MISSES POTTY WEE POTTER." He spun upside down to stare Lily in the eyes. "How's the honey mooooooooooooooooon?" and he turned over as he said it, pulling his transparent trousers to moon the both of them before zipping to the ceiling rafters.

"Peeve, bloody hell," James said, reaching to block Lily's eyes.

Lily laughed and said, "You're filthy," she said.

Peeves grinned and blew a raspberry.

Filch shoved his updated list of banned objects into James's hand. "GO and take the Poltergeist with you! I've got a Great Hall to clean up!" he grabbed his mob and glowered at Peeves, then shuffled out the door hurriedly, clicking his tongue for Mrs. Norris to follow.

James smirked. "Good one, Peeves, you've chased him out of his own office."

"I live here now," sang Peeves, spinning about, "I've won the castle! Wheeee!"

James laughed, "Well, you have fun. We're off." He nodded for Lily to follow him and they got to the door and were nearly out it when Peeves suddenly dropped down before them.

"Hang on!" Peeves cried, dangling upside down, his ghostly hair fluttering. He held onto the suspenders of his clothes and he studied the pair of them for a moment, then, "Potty wee Potter, this badgey-wadgey isn't gone to your head is it?"

"Gone to my head?" James asked.

Peeves gave him a stern look. "You've not gone soft?"

"Peeves," James replied, "I solemnly swore to you that I'm up to no good, and that's not going to change just because Dumbledore has pinned some badge on my chest, mate."

A grin broke across Peeve's face. "Heee hee heee!! Old Dumbles thought he got hisself a tamed shrew but he hasn't!!!!" Peeves clapped wildly, "Heee hee heeeee!!" and he spun off down the hallway, cackling.

Lily laughed, "Gosh he's such a nuisance."

"He really is, though," James agreed, chuckling. "But he's alright, once you know how to play at his game. Ever since we discovered he leaves you be if you swear you're up to no good --"

"Is that where you got the idea for the passcode for your silly map then?" Lily asked, smirking.

James flushed. "First off, the Marauder's Map is not silly. Second of all... well, actually, yes." Then, "It was my idea."

"Was it?" Lily smiled, she could hear the pride in his voice.

"Yeah, it was. I mean, Remus did the spell work for it, but ... but it was my idea for the password."

"Brilliant," Lily said, "Even when you were an ickle wee troublemaker." She reached up and pinched his cheek playfully.

James turned even more red, and continued on walking down the corridor with her in tow. To change the subject from ickle wee James, he glanced over the list that Filch had given them. "Well, based on this list, I reckon Sirius should have detention until he's sixty."

Lily laughed, "Sirius would be in detention for the rest of his bleedin' life if we got him for every offense the school has to offer."

James laughed, "Too right you are." And he ceremoniously balled up Filch's list of items - mostly Zonko's products - and chucked it into the nearest bin, getting it in one go of it without using magic.

"Very impressive, Mr. Potter," Lily said.

"Why thank you, Miss. Evans," James answered, and they shared a kiss.

Together, they ducked down the Transfiguration wing and behind the tapestry that led to the Trophy Room Passageway. "Lumos," Lily said, waving her wand and illuminating the dark tunnel. James reached out and took her hand and they walked along together in quiet for some time through the winding passage.

"You reckon this is the best idea, then?" Lily asked, as they neared the part of the tunnel where the precipices were.

James said, "Well, nobody's going to find it here anyway."

"True," Lily murmured.

"We ought to put it down one of the further ones, though. This one here goes to the laundry room," James pointed to the very last of the dark abysses. "Don't need some unsuspecting House Elf finding it or worse, he's folding the laundry and it knocks him off the head." James chuckled.

Lily snorted, "The poor thing."

James said, "Yeah, poor thing."

"Have you ever had a House Elf?" she asked.

"Nah, my mum thinks they're creepy. Her family had many, of course, growing up." He caught Lily's hand as she tripped on a step and nearly fell, "Careful, there's a couple trick steps in here," he advised.

Lily liked the way it felt when he caught her.

"Alright, how about this one?" Lily asked as they came up to the second cliff. 

"Yeah, this one ought to do," James replied.

"Where do you reckon it goes?" Lily held her wand over the gap, peering down, but the light didn't reach far enough to reveal the bottom.

"Dunno," James said. "The center of the earth, maybe."

Lily laughed.

James reached into his bag and fished about for a moment, then withdrew the box. "He looked it over a moment, then, drew his wand and aimed it at the lock. "Soldari," he murmured. There was a bright spark from his wand and the lock and latch of the box glowed bright orange, hot red, and finally returned to black - smooth and melted, impossible to open.

"Good idea," Lily said, nodding. "Also -- quiemar malfeitor!" 

James watched the box glow a moment, then fade back to black. "What's that do?" he asked.

"If anyone tries to open it that intends to do evil with it, their hands will be scorched," Lily replied.

"Oohh, good one, Evans," James said, grinning. "Gods, you're so bright and clever."

Lily smiled, "Stop."

"It's true. I'm a lucky bloke." James's eyes glowed with pride.

"Just chuck the box you lucky bloke," Lily laughed.

James said, "I feel as though we should say a few words?"

"To burying all of the things Voldemort wants," Lily said, "And seeing to it that he's sorely disappointed."

James nodded, "Here, here." And with that, he tipped his palm and the box slipped from his hand, falling over the ledge and into the dark. They both stood, silent and waiting, wanting to hear the landing, but they never did. For all they knew, the box fell for all of the rest of eternity.

When he'd bored of waiting for the thump, James turned to Lily. "You know, Evans... right up here is the little alcove."

"Is it now?" she asked, following as he pulled her along the passageway, away from the chasm they'd dropped the locket into.

"Yup." James held her hands, rocking their arms between them.

They went up through the passageway until they reached the alcove and James sat down on the little couch heavily, letting out a loud and exhausted sigh. "Being Headboy is exhausting," he murmured, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the cushions.

Lily smiled and shrugged off her robes and took off her tie, kicked off her trainers, then sat down next to him, folding her knees so she was sitting on her feet. She leaned into his shoulder and picked at her socks, feeling the pattern knitted into them. James's arm came heavily 'round her and he rested his hand on the elbow of her jumper.

"Last year at this time, if you asked me where I saw myself the first day back from seventh year, in a million guesses, I never would've thought I would be here," Lily said.

"Me, either," James said, eyes still closed.

Lily nuzzled into him, breathing in his smell. It was still so new feeling, so special and awkward in a good way. She was still noticing little things about him - like a freckle on the back of his neck that  she'd never noticed before, or the way the hair settled around his ears. She ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and he shivered at the touch, which made her giggle under her breath and him bite his lower lip. "I love the way your teeth are all uneven," she whispered.

James laughed, "Alright?"

"No, I really do. It's one of the first things I found really attractive about you. Especially this one." She reached up and touched the canine tooth of the upper left side of his mouth.

"The one you 'fixed' in fourth year?" he asked, and he peeked at her through the squint of his eye.

Lily smiled, "Yeah. I remember I was so heartbroken when it wasn't the same and... gyrari tooth," she laughed, remembering the spell.

"Gyrari tooth," he whispered back. 

"I was already starting to fall for you then," she admitted.

James said, "I remember walking on the train and going in this one compartment where there was this blubbering mess of a girl..." He tilted his head and looked down at her, "I never really wanted anybody else."

Lily hugged him all the harder.

James drew a deep breath. "Bloody hell, I could stay like this with you, right here, for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy, Evans."

"Me, too, Potter," she whispered.

The box fell, spinning, tumbling through the air, end over end over end, down... down... down... through the depths of the darkness. Then - with a soft splash - it hit water... and it sank, lower and lower, coming to rest in a small pile of rocks, just above a glass dome, and there it rested, silent and still, overlooking the empty Slytherin common room.

When James tiptoed into the Marauders' dormitory, he was carrying his trainers so they wouldn't make noise. He used his wand to muffle the sound of the door creaking, and twisted the knob to keep the jam from clicking, carefully tugging the door shut... A light snapped on. He turned around. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were sitting in a row on the end of the beds, all in their pyjamas, all staring at him expectantly.

"Well look who decided to join us in the bedroom," Sirius murmured.

Remus looked over. "Uhhhh... Sirius, that's not coming out the way you've intended."

"Isn't it, though?" Sirius smirked, then turned back to James. "Snogging with Evans, were you?"

"A bit," James smirked.

"Exellent example for the wee ones," Sirius accused.

James said, "Like the wee ones pay attention. If they're anything like us, they'll be running around like little banshees within the hour anyway."

Sirius smirked. "Yes, well." Then, "Trophy Room Passageway?" James nodded. "Excellent," Sirius noded his approval, "That couch -- it's a great place to ---"

"Stop," James commanded. "I don't want to hear what you've been into there."

Peter nodded eagerly.

Sirius grinned, "Yeah, probably not," and Remus flushed. Sirius snickered.

Remus turned and crawled into bed, snuggling beneath the covers. He yawned as she sank into the pillows, and Sirius transformed into a dog, bouncing over Peter's bed - pausing to lap his face-  and onto Remus's, curling up beside him and resting his doggy head on Rey's shoulder, watching as James changed into his pyjamas.

"Pete, did you get to talk to Wendy at all?" James asked.

Peter nodded excitedly. "Her family went to Spain for the summer!"

"That sounds lovely," Remus yawned.

"Yeah," Peter nodded eagerly, then he hurriedly bent over the side of the bed and tugged his book bag out, "Look." He held up a beautiful quill with a long spotted brown feather, tipped in solid, dark brown fringe. "She brought me back this," he said, spinning it in his fingertips and with drawing a little pot of ink. "The ink is charmed so it doesn't  run out. And this feather is from a Griffon Vulture!"

"A griffon vulture?" James looked impressed.

"Yeah, she picked it for me because of Griffon... you know. Gryffindor."

"Clever," Remus chimed in, and he smiled sleepily.

James took off his glasses, folding them over and putting them into the drawer on his nightstand. He laid back into his pillows and grinned. 

Across the common room, up the steps... Lily came 'round the bend to ind Ali Prewett, waiting. Lily laughed, "Been there long?"

"Only all night," Ali rginned.

"C'mon," Lily said, and she pulled Ali up to her feet and hurriedly. "At least come in for some tea while we talk."