“James Potter, get out of that bed this instant,” yelled Miriam Potter up the stairs to her sleeping son. “I need your help de-gnoming the garden and your Auntie Althea will be arriving within the hour! Get up! You too, Sirius!”

From the confines of his blankets, James Potter reached towards his bedside table for his glasses. “We’re getting up, Mum! Just give us a couple more minutes and we’ll be down,” he yelled back down to his mother.

“Prongs, mate, can’t you talk her into letting us sleep for two more minutes, maybe even hours?” yawned Sirius Black, his best friend, from a camp bed near the door.

“Nope, she’s right, Padfoot. If Auntie Althea arrives and we’re still asleep mum will go mad; that woman drives her nuts!”

With a good chuckle, the two friends got out of bed and headed down stairs for some breakfast. If they were going to have to deal with those dimwitted gnomes they were going to need some energy for chucking them across the garden wall.

As they dug into their kippers, sausage, and toast two tawny barn owls flew through the open window, delivered a letter to each of the boys, grabbed a piece of toast and flew back out the window.

“Those school owls are getting a bit bold don’t you think?” Sirius inquired absently as he opened his letter.

James just shrugged eating a piece of toast as he opened his letter and began to read the new supplies he would require for the new term. “Two pages of supplies this year; that’s unusual,” he remarked as he shuffled to the second page.

“Two pages? I haven’t got two pages.” Sirius turned and looked at James, who was sitting beside him. He found him with his mouth agape; the piece of toast James had been eating had fallen to his lap.

“What is it, mate? They haven’t held you back for all the pranks we pulled last year have they?”

“N-no, this letter says that they’ve umm… made me Head B-boy,” James advised still staring at the paper in what appeared to be shock.

A loud BANG shook him out of his stupor, as Sirius grabbed the letter from his hands, apparently not willing to believe the news until he had read it for himself. James’ mother had dropped the large pot she had been washing and was now fiercely hugging her son.

“Oh, James! I’m so proud of you! What a nice surprise! We have to go out and celebrate! Oh, I’ve got to go tell your father; he’ll be so pleased, James!”

With that she bustled from the room, just as Sirius had thrown himself to the ground in a fit of laughter. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Padfoot! Why don’t you go back to bed?”

“What and miss taking the mickey out of you? I don’t think so, Prongsy! Wait ‘til Wormtail and Moony hear about this,” Sirius managed to say through his gale of laughter.

James now looked perturbed. This has to be a practical joke of some kind, he thought to himself as he read the letter again.

…have been appointed the title of Head Boy. Your co-Head will be Lily Evans. We are sure you both will take these roles seriously…

A devilish grin spread across his face, knowing just how much time he and Lily would be forced to spend together as co-Heads. Now that has it’s possibilities.