They had just finished their dinner but no one was really making a move to get up from the dinner table. Mr. Potter was telling the boys about one of his more recent missions while Mrs. Potter was fussing around Hermione.
They all looked up to see a barn owl fly in and James instantly perked up "Isn't that Evans's owl?" he asked. She ignored him and took to the letter instead. Her eyes narrowing as she read it.
"James?" she called sweetly once she was done.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it" he defended quickly.
"Really? You did not charm her trunk to flash James loves you forever then?" Hermione asked narrowing her eyes even more. He grimaced.
"I just wanted her to have something to remember me by" he said in a small voice.
"Too bad she wants me to give you something to remember too" Hermione said coolly.
"I didn't mean to, I just did it. Come on Mione please?" James pleaded
"What part of giving her some breathing space do you not understand?" she snapped.
"but-" James began
"Don't you dare James, Don't. You. Dare." She said with finality. The messy haired boy sunk lower into his seat at her glare.
"I'm going to go write to Lily now, excuse me!" Hermione said a bit coldly as she stood up.
"Come now doll, it wasn't all that bad" Sirius defended his brother, making her glare at him instead.
"You were supposed to be making sure he didn't do anything stupid." She said pointedly.
"But Mione, I'm not even stalking her because I wanted to give her some space!" James spoke again, regaining some of his courage.
"STALK? Who in their right mind stalks the girl they are trying to impress?!" Hermione asked exasperated.
Her eyes caught Sirius's as he sunk lower into his seat and James looked guilty as he realized what he had just slipped out.
"You stalked me?!" she asked, her voice now more threatening.
"umm I might have checked what you were doing every now and then" Sirius told her meekly.
The older couple burst out laughing as their sons looked ready to disappear into the ground under her furious glare. She finally huffed and stalked back to her room stiffly.
SBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHG SBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSBHGSB
An hour had passed since Hermione had returned to her room and her reply to Lily was done; only she wasn't ready to send it yet. She knew that James and Lily had gotten together sometime before Christmas according to the stories she had heard and it bothered her that there was still no sign of any such thing happening now.
With a sigh she took the letter and walked out of her room all the way up to the third floor and pushed James's door open. She saw him already in bed and staring at the ceiling, the golden snitch flying above him.
He looked up when she threw the door open and even in the darkness she could tell he was smirking.
"Mione? You got the wrong room" He said easily, falling back into his bed.
"Shut up, I haven't forgiven you yet" She advised as she got into his bed, pulled the pillow from under him and sat cross legged beside him, while hugging it.
"It's spelled to be visible only to her" he said in a quieter voice, making Hermione sigh.
"Here" she said handing him the note in her hand.
"Lily's letter?" James asked sitting up on his bed.
"No, mine. I finished what I wanted to say to her and thought maybe you could add something in the end…" Hermione said to a highly excited James.
"You want me to write to her?" he asked brightly.
"Yes. A sweet apology for all stupid things you've done and a little something about how you feel. No flirting, no cheesy dialogues and no poetry describing her. Be completely sincere" She instructed strictly.
He nodded vigorously, the smile now plastered widely across his face.
"You think it will work?" he asked eagerly.
"Depends on how you write. You could either end up together before Christmas or never at all" She said but James saw the slight smile on her face and hugged her close.
"I solemnly swear that I will not mess up" he said in a surprisingly sincere tone. She nodded before moving to leave.
"Wait, are you mad at Sirius?" he asked as he tugged at her wrist.
"Not really. Just surprised" she replied honestly.
"Surprised?" James repeated in question.
"He's Sirius Black, Girls twenty years from now are going to lust over him and I can't really see what would make him stalk me" she said as she flopped back into his bed.
"I wouldn't have believed it myself last year, but he really loves you." James said looking at Hermione with a careful expression.
"I know" she replied, avoiding his eyes and staring at the darkness.
"And you really love him too" He observed.
"I know" she replied again and she hugged the pillow closer.
"Mione? What is really bothering you?" He asked concerned.
"None of you know me James. You don't know a thing about my past. How can I step into a relationship where I can't be completely honest with him?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.
"You can. Sirius will take your secrets to the grave if you ask him to" James said softly.
"I know and I will tell him…I will tell all of you…once all this is over. Just not right now" she replied sadly.
"So you are not going to be in a relationship till then?" he asked
"I want to. I just don't know. It's complicated" she answered suddenly frustrated.
"He doesn't care about your past half as much as he does about your future you know" he finally said, taking her hands in his.
"That's a very sweet thing James; I'm just not sure how it really works. Because I can't for the life of me imagine how you will all react to my past" she said, turning away.
"I don't know about us, but it will scare him to know how many times you nearly died before he even got the chance to meet you" James insisted.
Hermione fell silent, the only problem was they had met and for all she knew there had been nothing except mutual respect and friendship between them. Now how was she supposed to explain that?
"Mione? Stop thinking." James ordered softly. She looked up to see those hazel eyes filled with warmth as they looked into hers.
"You might have a hundred reasons to wait but I'll tell you this. You belong together. Time doesn't matter. Nothing does. Don't fight it" he said as he pulled her against his chest.
She rested against him, suddenly content. The way he had said it had felt so right and to her it held more meaning than he could ever comprehend. A little part of her remembered the conversations she had overheard Bill and Ginny have where he would talk to her in the exact same way.
"You are right" she admitted with a smile. "Tell you what I'm going on a date with him tomorrow and you and Lily are also going on one by Christmas, so let me go check on my guy while you figure out what to write!" Hermione said decidedly as she stood up.
They struck a deal and James gave her a kiss on her head before shooing her out so he could write in peace.
Rolling her eyes she entered the room opposite to see Sirius sitting up in bed with a random motorbike magazine. He looked up and flashed her a smile.
"I thought you forgot about me" he teased as she got into bed and snuggled into his warm body. She didn't bother to reply; instead she grabbed the magazine from him and turned the pages searching for the model she knew he would buy eventually.
"Get this one" she said once she had found the right page. He looked surprised.
"You are actually okay with me buying one?" he asked disbelievingly.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked as she put it away and dragged him down to the pillows.
He laughed lightly before flicking his wand and turning the lights off before holding her close and falling asleep.
A/N : Now the sadder part, this double update was due to the fact that i will not be able to sign in tomorrow and all my friends who claim that i do not have a life outside this story (which even if true is justifiable because it is a very nice place to live in) have refused to update my chapters for me. So see you all day after!
Oh and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
