Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Sorry about last chapter! I meant for it to be a cliffhanger, and not quite so confusing. This chapter will clear up the questions about James and Lily's engagement! Let me know what you think about them parting ways.

Thanks to those of you who favorited and followed after last chapter! Big thanks to my reviewers: PhoenixChanger, winxgirl1997, twztdwildcat, Bentears, The Butterfly Dreamer, unicornz . 334, Pwrmom2, Guest, Smithback, chrisseattheend, everlastingtrueromance, and pianomouse! You guys rock - really, this story is getting so much more interest than I expected :)

Please let me know what you thought of chapter three and be on the lookout for chapter four later this week.

When Sirius got Hermione back to the flat, apparating had taken its toll on her body, causing her stomach to riot. He ushered her into their shared bathroom and held her hair back as she retched into the toilet. He sat with her on the floor of the bathroom for over two hours, gently rubbing her back.

Hermione had been all tears, her previous joy evaporated in the stark white tile of the bathroom. "Harry." She'd whispered again and again. "He's dead and it's all my fault and now he can't come back." Sirius had just shushed her, telling her everything would work out, but then she'd remember the angry way James had looked at her and told her that he'd never get married to Lily.

Once she'd finished getting sick, Sirius had guided her into her new room and helped her take off her jeans and tshirt. He'd loaned her one of his white cotton undershirts and Hermione had been too drunk to care if Sirius saw her without a bra on. He tucked her in bed and brought her a big glass of water. "Now every time you wake up, I want you to take a big drink of this. As much as you can without getting sick."

Hermione had dutifully nodded before laying her head on the unfamiliar pillow. Soon she drifted off to sleep despite the spinning feeling that overtook her every time she closed her eyes.

When Hermione woke the next day, her head was pounding and her mouth was dry, but the thought of drinking the water next to the bed made her want to throw up. The night previous came back to her in waves. Sirius had taken such good care of her. He'd been so trusting and unlike the paranoid man she'd come to know at Grimmauld Place in her fifth year.

They really all were too trusting for her liking, but seeing as they hadn't lived through a war, it was understandable. She thought about Remus Lupin on the lawn of the Burrow demanding answers from Harry to ascertain that he was legitimate. Harry…

The thought of her best friend left a bitter taste in her mouth. She remembered again how adamant James had been. What had happened between him and Lily? Could she repair the damage? What had changed this time? Had her presence in this time already caused ripples? She couldn't fathom how as she'd just been lying unconscious in Hogwarts for months.

The swirling thoughts in her head had her feeling dizzy again, so she pushed them from her mind. She hadn't heard any movement in the apartment, so the lads must be out. She knew instinctively that if she could just get something in her stomach, she'd feel a lot better. She stood up and was awash in dizziness. She steadied herself, before making her way to the kitchen, not caring that she was in Sirius's undershirt and her knickers.

As she wobbled her way to the kitchen, she was startled by a voice in the living room. "So sleeping beauty finally decided to wake up."

Hermione turned to see James laying on the couch with a smirk on his face – a smirk that would be utterly out of place on Harry's face, but just seemed to fit on his. She tried to ignore the pleased face he made as he looked at her body. "What time is it?"

James turned his attention to the clock before standing and making his way to the kitchen. "Three p.m. Here, have a cracker or two." He handed her a box of saltine crackers, which she was happy to take.

"Where are the others?" Hermione asked, a bit uncomfortable to be alone with James Potter, when he wasn't her biggest fan.

"Sirius and Remus are out at work. They won't be back until later." James told her, watching her closely as she nibbled on the crackers. Despite her stomach's initial protests, having a bit of food was helping her immensely. "Do you feel well enough to eat some more?" Hermione thought about it before nodding.

"Alright, go get dressed, and then we can do to the chip shop down the road." James said, a tentative smile on his face. Seeing Hermione's reluctance he continued. "Come on, it will make you feel loads better."

"Fine." Hermione told him before returning to her little room. She put her jeans back on and Remus's old t-shirt before straightening her hair. The ponytail Sirius had given her the night before left her hair with much to be desired. Satisfied that she looked alright enough to be seen in public, she went back out the living room.

"Is that the only shirt you have?" James asked, surprised.

"Yes, Remus gave it to me yesterday. My jumper was ripped." Hermione said, embarrassed at her lack of possessions. The three boys had no idea that they were taking in a stray.

James said dismissively, "Well, we can stop at a store on the way back. I think there is a department store not too far away from here."

Hermione followed him out the door and down the stairs again. "I don't have any money." Hermione told him pitifully.

"Don't worry about it. I've got more galleons than I could spend in twenty lifetimes." James told her with a small smile. Sensing she was still reluctant to take him up on his offer, he added, "If you want, you can pay me back once you get settled." Hermione thanked him.

By the time they arrived at the chip shop and ordered their fish and chips, James felt bad for how nervous she was around him. He knew that he had snapped at her at the bar when she asked about Lily, and she didn't deserve it. Also, Sirius had come to talk to him and Remus after he'd put her to bed and told her how much she'd been crying about someone called Harry, who was dead. It made him feel pretty awful for the way he'd acted.

Staring at her over their haddock and chips, James decided to break the ice. "Sorry about the way I snapped at you last night…it's just…Lily is kind of a sore topic for me, still."

Hermione bit her lip and stared at him. "What happened?" She asked quietly.

Looking into her big brown eyes made James want to spill of his secrets. "We were engaged, and set to get married in August, but she has this friend…Snape, who is a really awful individual." James started. Hermione seemed to know what he meant even though he was sure she'd never have met someone awful like Snivellus before. "Anyway, he came to the Order and repented for being a Death Eater, saying he'd made a mistake. Lily forgave him immediately, and Dumbledore did too."

Hermione nodded patiently. "Dumbledore is a good judge of character."

"Well, Snape has always been in love with Lily, since they were kids, I think." James said, a dark look on his face. "She started spending all of her time with him, saying that he'd been through so much. I asked her to stop seeing him alone and she refused." James smiled bitterly. "In the end, I told her, it was me or him, to pick someone. She picked Snape."

Hermione grimaced. "I am sorry, James. That's awful." She remembered when Ron had tried something similar with him and Harry, and that she had chosen Harry.

"I don't think she really believed I would follow through with it." James told her, staring down at his fish. Lily's decision still burned him. "I think, now, it might have been for the best. Lily obviously didn't actually love me."

"You don't know that." Hermione told him desperately. She needed James and Lily to get together so she could have Harry back. "Maybe she was just conflicted. I mean…her and Snape have been friends for a really long time."

James looked at her, with her little freckles across her cheeks. "No, I think Lily just likes broken things. I'd asked her out a thousand times and she told me no every time. Then my parents died. I was so upset and was kind of depressed at school. It was a lot to deal with, even with Sirius's support. Then Lily asked me out. I thought I'd won the lottery. But now, I think she just wanted to make me better."

Hermione could understand that. She knew people who were kind of like that. "Maybe it was just a coincidence."

"No," James shook his head. "No, she was friends with Snape before school, and then she gravitated to Remus, even though she didn't know what his problem was, and now that she's gone back to Snape once he's a repentant little Death Eater." Hermione made no mention that she already knew what Remus's problem was.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, James looked up to see that Hermione had finished her food. "Feeling better?" He asked with a wide smile.

"Yeah." Hermione said with an embarrassed smile. "Merlin, I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't worry." James said, empathetically. "It happens to everyone."

"Oh yeah?" Hermione asked, daring him to tell her his story.

"Yeah, in fifth year, the four of us split a bottle of firewhiskey. I got so sick. Little did I know, Sirius had been sneaking drinks for years, Remus … has an unusual metabolism, and Peter has a bit of weight on me. Still, my friends took care of me and made sure I didn't get in trouble with Professor McGonagall."

Hermione smiled, thinking of what Professor McGonagall would think if she'd seen Hermione last night. Then she remembered that Professor McGonagall had no idea who she was. By the time she'd finished her fish and chips, she did feel loads better and her hangover was finally subsiding. Still, she didn't think she'd be drinking whiskey again in a long time.

"Well, shall we take you shopping?" James asked before leading Hermione from the store. "And here I thought you were a Puddlemere fan." James said, a bit disappointed.

Hermione laughed. "No, I don't really support a professional team. I guess my friends supported the Chudley Cannons."

James looked aghast. "The Cannons? But they are so bad!"

Hermione giggled, but her smile quickly faded at the thought of Harry again. She needed a plan and she needed to get back to her time as quickly as possible before anything else changed. She would need to tell Professor Dumbledore everything, especially what she'd been through in the last year. "I really need to talk to Dumbledore." She told James quietly.

He seemed to understand her darkened mood and clapped her around the shoulder, pulling her to his body in a comforting mood. "We can send him an owl tonight and get something set up for tomorrow."

Hermione nodded and was surprised to see that he'd taken her to a Marks and Spencer. She felt a little bit at home and wandered about the aisles, James following behind her, intrigued. She picked out a couple of basic blouses and jeans, but she was putting off getting her lingerie with her shadow tailing her quite so closely. "Can you go look about somewhere else?" She asked him, standing near the women's section.

James looked behind her and saw the racks of bras and knickers. "Aww, you aren't going to let me help you pick out knickers?" He asked with a pout that caught her completely off guard. Harry was so awkward around her when she did anything that even hinted at her femininity, and she could be wrong but she thought James was flirting with her!

Hermione blushed. "Absolutely not!"

"Come on, you know I already saw you in them this morning." He said with wagging eyebrows. His hazel eyes were bright and inviting, asking her to join in on the joke.

Hermione felt her face grow even hotter seeing an older woman shaking her head at the pair of teenagers. "James! Just, go look at something else. Please." She insisted. "I will come and find you when I am finished."

"Alright." He told her with that same arrogant smirk she'd seen earlier. "But if you'd like my opinion, I think that you'd look quite fetching in that black lace set." He winked before walking off, leaving Hermione standing by herself, with her jaw dropped.

When they returned home later that night, Sirius was up in the living room, reading a book. Hermione smiled, thinking of the older Sirius, and how he never wanted to read any books in his family library. "Sirius Black reading? Who would have thought?" She asked him with a smirk.

Sirius's eyes furrowed. "What makes you say that?"

Hermione suddenly remembered that she wasn't meant to know him yet, and backpedaled quickly. "Oh, I just mean, you seem to be all play and no work kind of guy."

Sirius was pacified with that. "Oh, yeah. This is a work assignment. Recognizing the signs of the imperius curse."

Hermione sat down next to him and set her Marks and Spencer's bag on the coffee table, while James headed to the kitchen. Clearing her throat, she looked at him guiltily. "Sirius, I just wanted to say...thank you for taking such good care of me last night. And for lending me your t-shirt."

Sirius patted her knee. "No trouble at all kitten. It happens to us all now and again. And don't worry about the shirt. You can keep it." Sirius pulled her bag towards him. "Now, just what did you get that the store? Ooh! Black lace? I wouldn't have guessed that at all, kitten." He teased her giving a her a wink.

At hearing Sirius's words, James stuck his head out of the kitchen and gave Hermione a look. "You minx! I knew you would take my advice!"

Hermione blushed, grabbing her new bra back from Sirius and stuffing it in the bag again. She couldn't believe that Harry's dad had just called her a minx. This was going to be a lot different than she imagined.