Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I am not J.K. Rowling. Chances are neither do you, so let's wallow in self-pity together while expressing ourselves through fanfiction, okay? Okay.

Hello there! I have been reading fanfiction for over a year now and am hopelessly addicted, so I thought it was time to leave the safety of being a strictly a reader and venture into actually writing some of my own. So, obviously this is my first fanfic and I have absolutely no idea how this will go. I am planning on this being a longer story, but it may just be a one-shot I'm not sure. (The nerves about posting this are so REAL, guys!) So, I hope you enjoy this story and let me know if I should continue or review and tell me what you think. I also will accept any review no matter how brutal. This is supposed to be more of a learning process for me than an enjoyable thing for you (; Anyways, on with the story!

Of Professors and Prophecies

Chapter 1

"Lily! Post is here!" James yelled as he was trying to feed a rather fussy Harry some cereal.

Harry had just one a few weeks ago and was determined to be as stubborn as he could to his already worn out parents. Both James and Harry turned their heads simultaneously to see Lily bound in the room with an air of excitement.

"Anything for me?" she said.

"I don't know. You'll just have to loo-", but before he could finish his sentence, Lily had already attacked the mail till finally she raised one letter in particular up to her face. A wide grin broke out on both of their faces and James knew exactly what she had gotten. She was given the OK from Dumbledore to apply for a position at Hogwarts (particularly Charms professor) and was waiting for a confirmation letter.

"Should I open it?" Lily said.

"No, I think we should wait for Harry's Hogwarts letter to arrive. Of bloody course you should open it!" James replied with his typical over use of sarcasm.

Lily gave him a playful glare for his unnecessary rudeness and cursing in front of Harry, but before she had the chance to think about opening the letter, James's well-timed Maruauder's spirit kicked in and he decided to have a little with it. He had been stuck in this house for so long with little excitement, so he decided to make some mischief for himself. He quickly grabbed the letter out of Lily's hands and tore out of the kitchen and out into the hallway. Lily couldn't believe what he had just done and was momentarily shocked, but soon followed suit and chased him through the house.

"JAMES POTTER! Give it back right now!" Lily wasn't about to just let him open her letter.

She took after him leaving Harry sitting in his highchair laughing and giggling at his parent's behavior. Lily ran down the hall and found him standing by the mantel in the living room with his arm fully extended in the air and her letter at the very top. She tried to tackle him with little success and resorted to jumping up and down trying to reach for it. However, James was a good 5 inches taller than her, so he simply held it out of her reach. With a smug grin on his face he began reading in his best "Lily" voice:

Dear Mrs. Lily Potter,

"Ah, what a lovely name." James added with a smirk. Lily just rolled her eyes at her husband's opinion.

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as Charms professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

That's all the farther he got before he turned around and was faced with the tip of Lily's wand (a position he had been in many times before and always had the same painful consequence).

"Mr. Potter I advise you to give me my letter or I will have no choice, but to hex you into oblivion." Lily said with the most serious tone that she could muster.

"Alright, alright, I suppose you should get to read it too." Said James in a sarcastic tone.

He then gave in as tired out Lily lowered her wand and took the letter from him. He went to go clean up Harry, but not before bending down and giving her a quick kiss on the lips and whispering "Congratulations, professor."

Lily smirked and sat down with a huff, finally having the chance to read the letter in its entirety. She was so excited to finally have a career and to have the chance to go back to Hogwarts. The small family of three had been held up in their cottage for almost a year and she was ready to have some long forgotten freedom. Term started in a week and for her safety Dumbledore had all her supplies brought to the castle in advance and would have her floo in directly to his office. Dumbledore had set enchantments on both the Potter's and his floos so that they could not be monitored by anyone. The fact that they would have her teach would be extremely risky to everyone involved, but Hogwarts was short a teacher and Dumbledore also suggested that it would be tactful that Lily and James weren't living in the same place all the time. It was a safe way to ensure that if either got attacked, Harry would not be left completely parentless. Lily wasn't very fond of that idea, but James had agreed with Dumbledore that it would be a good plan.

Lily was pulled out of her thoughts about Hogwarts as James walked into the living room and set Harry on the floor with some of his toys. He then sat down next to Lily and his arm lazily around her shoulders.

"So you're really going, huh?"

"Well of course I am, it's a huge opportunity for me." She said as she looked down and fiddled with a string on her shirt. "Why? Are you worried?" Lily didn't know why she felt the need to ask, she could tell just by looking at him that he was worried.

"No…well yes..but, look Lil, we're in the middle of war and we are not the most liked witch and wizard around. I just want to make sure that you're going to be safe at Hogwarts. You might end up teaching some Death Eater's kids and-"

She cut him off before he could finish. "James, Hogwarts is the safest place next to a Fidelius charmed cottage. Not to mention Dumbledore will be there too. I don't think Voldemort would put up a fight with Dumbledore just to get a chance to kill me."

"I wouldn't put it past him…When are you leaving?" James said softly.

"The letter said tomorrow afternoon would be the best time. He wants me there early to meet the other teachers and get my lesson plans together." Lily said as she looked over at Harry. She knew she would miss him and James so much, but she needed this. James knew she needed this too. He knew that with marrying a strong headed Gryffindor came the fact that she could never live with restrictions. He couldn't either, but he always put her needs before his.

James took a deep breathe in and said "Well, Harry, I guess we can turn this place into a real man cave now that your mum is leaving. No bed times, no cleaning, and Padfoot can stay even after he's had too much to drink!" Lily just laughed and leaned into James's chest.

After Harry went to bed that evening, Lily and James stayed up discussing what things are going to be like at Hogwarts for her. How she was going to deal with nervous first-years and cheeky seventh-years or how she'd have to deal with being colleagues with most of her former teachers. They laughed, reminisced, and as Lily went to bed that night she thought that at this exact moment, everything was exactly as she wanted it to be.

So there it is! This is to really set up what's going to happen later on in the story, so I apologize for how quickly things moved, but I want to get to some plot. In regards to the K+ rating, it's very likely to go up as the story progresses. Also, as the pairing suggest this WILL turn into a Sev/Lily story, so if that's not your thing then I wouldn't recommend this for you (However, there will be no James bashing). Thanks for reading and please review!