vi.
life is not meant to be wasted
(Chasing the Sun by Sara Bareilles)
July 20, 1974
"Hermione!"
The brunette looked up from the Transfiguration textbook she was reading and searched for Peter's voice.
"Over here!"
She blinked and glanced at their bathroom. Her brother's head was peeking out from the door, his eyes intently trained on their mother's back. He gestured for her to come towards him and confused, she mouthed 'Why?'
Instead of answering, he beckoned her more incessantly and Hermione had no choice but to jump down from her chair. She shot another look at her mother, who was busy fixing up their supper for tonight, before striding towards her brother.
He quickly yanked her inside and slammed the door behind her. Hermione frowned at his sudden pacing as she walked towards their toilet and closed the lid. She daintily sat down on top of it and expectantly looked at him. "Well?" she urged.
Peter stopped his pacing and frowned at Hermione. "Something's wrong with Mum," he whispered, loud enough for her to hear.
Hermione knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" she asked.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I knew you wouldn't notice because you're too busy burying your nose behind your precious books," he pointed out, ignoring her glare. "But lately she's been… fidgety. I dunno, I think she's keeping something from us."
"Maybe she's just trying to search for the right time to tell us," Hermione said with a half-shrug. "If Mum doesn't want to tell us something, then it's not really our business, Petey."
"I know that," he grumbled. "It's just… I think she'd been really lonely ever since we both started going to Hogwarts. I just worry about her sometimes."
Hermione smiled and stood up from the toilet. She wound her arms around his torso and squeezed him tight. "That's really sweet, Peter," she said. "I'm sure Mum doesn't want us to worry." She paused, then tilted her head in surprise. "You've grown taller!"
"Yeah?" he asked, a proud grin on his face. When she nodded her head, his grin grew. "I thought so too, but I wasn't really sure."
Their Mum then called for both of them and the Pettigrew siblings strode out of the bathroom and quickly went to the kitchen. While Peter helped their mother prepare the plates, Hermione opted to observe instead. Admittedly, she'd been swamped with summer homework and hadn't really gone out of her room much to do other things.
Now that Peter had pointed out about their mother's strange behaviour, Hermione noticed how Anya's shoulders were tensed with worry. She had been incessantly chewing her bottom lip – one of their mother's strange quirks when she was bothered by something – and this made Hermione concerned. Maybe whatever their mother was apprehensive about might be a big deal after all.
When they had all settled down and started piling heaps of food onto their plates, Anya cleared her throat to catch both of their attention. Hermione stilled and Peter paled, anticipating whatever their mother was going to tell them.
"Children," she started, "I have something to tell you."
She looked grim and it didn't help Hermione's worry at all.
"Did somebody die?" Peter suddenly blurted out.
Anya's blue eyes widened and she looked at him incredulously. "What?"
Peter grew paler. "You look like somebody died, Mum," he pointed out.
Their mother, blessedly, released a bout of nervous laughter. "No, no, sweetheart, nobody died," she reassured. Peter visibly relaxed, but still looked wary. "It's just… oh, how can I say this?" She nervously looked away and cleared her throat. "I've been… um – well – I've been seeing someone for quite a while now."
Well, Hermione didn't expect that. "What?" she gasped in surprise. "Like a boyfriend?"
Anya coloured and sheepishly smiled. "It's a bit silly to call him that with my age now, don't you think?" she joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. When both Peter and Hermione merely blinked at her, she sighed and continued, "Yes, yes, if you put it that way then yes. I have a boyfriend."
"Muggle?" Peter quipped, looking worried all of a sudden.
Their mother slowly nodded her head. "He knows about our, well, magic," she explained. She nervously laughed once more and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Accidentally caught me doing it, really, but he's very understanding about it. Unlike your—"
She swallowed down her remaining words, but they both knew who their mother was talking about.
"Oh," Hermione quickly said, feeling quite uncomfortable. "Okay, Mum."
Anya's eyes widened. "Okay?"
The younger witch knitted her eyebrows. "Yes," she deliberately enunciated.
"I was expecting a different answer actually," her mother confessed with a nervous smile. "After everything that had happened with your—" Again, she couldn't bring herself to voice out the bastard who was already buried six feet under.
"Mum," Peter sighed, "you thought we'd be against this?"
"Well—"
"Blimey, Mum, we just want you to be happy," Hermione pointed out with a disbelieving laugh. "If you want to date someone, then we'll support you wholeheartedly."
Anya's eyes watered as she looked from her daughter to Peter, who was vigorously nodding his head to agree with his sister. "Oh, I have the best children in this world," she said, reaching out to grasp both of their hands.
Peter laughed and squeezed her hand. "I was actually expecting something worse, but having a new boyfriend wasn't something I'd thought of," he pointed out.
"Unlike somebody dying," Hermione said with a teasing smirk.
He blushed. "Shut up, Hermione."
September 1, 1974
Anya hugged them both goodbye before Peter and Hermione climbed onto the Hogwarts Express. Peter also bid her goodbye, but Hermione latched onto his arm before he could get away.
"Is there something you need, 'Mione?" her brother asked with worry in his eyes.
"I just want to remind you before you go off and start doing stupid shenanigans with your friends, that you should start taking your studies very seriously this year, Peter," Hermione insisted.
He looked at her with a bemused smile. "Merlin, Hermione! We haven't reached Hogwarts yet and now you're preaching how to become a swot like you," he joked.
But Hermione was vigorously shaking her head. "No, you don't understand, Peter," she interjected. "You'll soon have your OWLs and I know how you desperately want to become an Auror. You do know that their selection process is very stringent, right? They will not even consider you if they see you have a grade lower than 'A' in your OWLs."
Peter's eyes had widened. "Really?" he gasped, clearly in disbelief.
"Oh, bloody hell, you don't know," she grumbled with a sigh.
When Peter paled and started to look panicky, Hermione appeased him by squeezing his arm. "Don't worry, I already have a plan because I knew you'd be like this," she said.
Curiosity replaced his panic. "A plan?" he asked with a frown.
"Yes," she said with a firm nod. "I've made you a study schedule for this year and we can study together so if you have questions or if you—"
Peter's eyes widened before he burst into loud, boisterous laughing. "Merlin Almighty, Hermione," he said, tears already forming at the corner of his eyes.
Her words died down as she looked at her brother in confusion. "What?" she demanded, confused.
"I knew you were an unbelievable swot but holy shite," he snorted.
She ignored his language and glared, clearly annoyed at being laughed at. "What?" she reiterated, this time through gritted teeth.
"Nothing, nothing," he said, humour still in his eyes. "Fine, good Godric. Since you've already made an elaborate plan to help me pass my OWLs – which, mind you, is two years from now – then I really can't stop you now, can I?"
Hermione grumbled under her breath. "A little thank you would suffice," she muttered.
Instead, Peter laughingly pulled her into a warm hug. "Please don't ever change, Hermione Pettigrew," he said, before letting her go and searching for his best friends.
September 2, 1974
James just had an earth-shattering revelation today that had him reeling.
He went through his day mechanically; like his whole body belonged to someone else and he was merely speculating the events going on around him. The lessons for today hadn't even registered in his mind but… but that didn't matter today, because he had just had an earth-shattering revelation and he couldn't properly breathe.
It had all started when they arrived at Hogwarts and attended the Welcoming Feast. Normally, he would have been excited about the Sorting because new Gryffindors were going to join their table. But after going through this ceremony for four years, its novelty had faded and James found himself bored beyond belief. He tried to suggest to his friends to skip the Feast all together and go to the Shrieking Shack to practice their Animagi, but, to his disgruntlement, all of his friends had wanted to stay for the Feast.
Sirius confidently declared that this year, he was a Merlin's gift to all witchkind and had been flirting unabashedly with Marlene McKinnon since he'd laid eyes on her. Remus looked tired to the bone and upon double-checking his calendar, he noted that the full moon was only two days from now. Peter seemed bloody determined to study all of a sudden and firmly told them that he might start focusing more with his academics this year.
'Bloody wankers,' James had thought by then, and started to lazily look around the Great Hall just to keep him busy. Surprisingly, his eyes landed on the Ravenclaw table – specifically, where Peter's sister sat. His nose twitched with the memory of her spell and unwittingly, he blushed and glowered at her bushy hair. Merlin, she was a menace and James had wondered ever since how she was related to Peter, who had been docile and let him get away with anything he wanted.
He rubbed the tip of his nose, remembering the Bat-Boogeys swarming all over his face. Everybody in school now knew the feisty second year – now third – threw a mean Bat-Boogey hex. They'd been pestering him incessantly about how it felt like, if he felt like he was going to die, but James scared them off with a growl. It had been bloody embarrassing he'd been bested by a girl and he'd rather not relieve that experience ever again.
Although he had his payback last year, it almost didn't seem enough. But of course, since she was the little sister of one of his best mates, he had no choice but to steer clear. She was off limits. He just had to work extra harder this year not to get under her skin.
Merlin, she was truly terrifying that day.
Lightly shivering, he glanced at the person sitting beside her and scowled. Snivellus was talking quietly to the brunette, perhaps something about school work and such. Surprisingly, his hair didn't look lanky and greasy, like how he'd always worn his hair. Perhaps, the stupid Slytherin actually washed his hair after all.
His scowl deepened, remembering that annoying feeling in his heart he now knew as guilt that had appeared after he'd vanished his potion. How could he have known it was that hard to brew? He should have told him in the first place!
'They tried telling you to give it back, idiot,' a voice hissed inside his head that strangely sounded like Remus.
James flinched and trampled down that gnawing guilt once more. Looking at the stupid Slytherin always brought out irrational anger in him and although he knew he always acted like an idiotic bully every time Snape was in the vicinity, well, he couldn't stop himself. It didn't help that Sirius hated the slimy bastard, too. Once Sirius started goading him, James couldn't help but join in. Seeing Snape all riled up was terribly fun, after all.
He then tore his gaze away and looked at the other person of their strange trio. Lily Evans' hair was as fiery as a wild flame today. He never really thought about her that much, but he found himself glancing at her every time she walked into the room. Her vibrant red hair commanded attention and, well, he just had to look for himself.
Hermione was whispering something under her breath and Lily suddenly threw her head back and laughed with abandon. The corners of her eyes crinkled and she tried her hardest to muffle her laugh but was obviously failing. Peter's sister was also grinning, and Lily had to hold on to her arm to keep herself from toppling over.
And then… and then he saw her bright, emerald eyes, glittering with humour and James was brought back to their last Astronomy Class in third year, when they all watched as numerous shooting stars darted across the black sky. James remembered being mesmerized by the beautiful show.
And now, now, he couldn't look away because Lily Evan's eyes were like shooting stars. It was as if a sudden fog was lifted from his mind and his breath hitched, disbelieving at his sudden revelation.
Bloody fucking hell, Lily Evans was breath-taking.
September 8, 1974
"May I ask why you're dragging our arses at such an ungodly time of the day?" a grumpy Severus asked, pulling out his chair in their usual library table and plopping unceremoniously onto it.
"It's not ungodly," Hermione hotly shot back, pointedly ignoring how Lily gave her a withering glare after breaking into her umpteenth yawn. "It's seven in the morning."
"On a Sunday, Hermione Pettigrew," Lily grumbled.
Hermione coloured and thought that perhaps she really had been too eager to invite them over in the library. "You could have ditched me if you're going to complain all day," she retorted in return. To her surprise, Lily and Sev exclaimed identical snorts.
"And face your ire?" the Slytherin sneered.
"We're not going to take any chances," Lily said with a solemn nod.
Her cheeks darkened. "My temper's not that explosive," she whined. Hermione prided herself that she could always keep a levelled head when faced with adversaries. She wasn't hailed as the brightest witch of her age for nothing, after all. If there was someone who had an explosive temper, it would be Ron – what with his emotional range of a teaspoon – or Harry – recalling all the terrible tantrums he threw during their teenage years.
Severus merely rolled his eyes and frowned at her. "Why are we here again?" he asked.
Hermione composed herself, still terribly offended by their insinuation about her temper, before choosing to drop it completely. They had other important matters to talk about.
She then grabbed onto her bag and pulled out colour-coded parchments and passed them to both Lily and Sev.
"What are these?" Lily gasped, eyes widening as she browsed through the parchments. "Are these… study schedules?"
"Bloody hell," Severus murmured.
"Your OWLs are next year," Hermione explained. "And I just thought… well, I know you're both still fourth years, so you have at least two more years to prepare for your OWLS. But, it won't hurt if you start studying now. After all, the topics for OWLs will cover your lessons from first year to the first semester of your fifth. I, for one, do not believe that you can cram reviewing these lessons into one semester."
Lily was still gaping at Hermione, before she snapped her gaze to Severus. "I'm not as barmy as Hermione when it comes to studying, right?" she cried with horrified eyes.
"Hey!" she exclaimed in a whisper, craning her neck to look over at Madame Pince. Thankfully, the librarian was busy reprimanding another early-rising student than to bother with the three of them.
"No, no, this is a whole different level of craziness, holy shite," Severus said, sputtering out disbelieving snickers.
"I'm not crazy," she hotly whispered in protest. "I just… I just really love studying, so you know, I wanted my best friends to at least pass their OWLs with flying colours."
Lily expelled a humongous sigh and pulled Hermione into a comforting hug. "Merlin, Hermione, you're a blessing to us all. We know that, of course," the redhead said. "But maybe, just maybe, I think you are too obsessed with studying. There are other things to focus on, like… like – right! You're in your third year now, so you can go to Hogsmeade and let loose and forget all about studying. Or, you know, you can attend Quidditch matches or swap gossips with your girlfriends in the Ravenclaw Tower. There's more to life than studying."
Hermione frowned. "You don't like my colour coded schedules," she bluntly pointed out.
"No, Merlin, no!" Lily interjected, tightly hugging the parchment against her chest to prove her point. "I'm just saying that I don't understand why you are so obsessed with studying. You're as crazy as Sev when he's obsessing over brewing the perfect potion."
"Why is this suddenly about me?" the Slytherin drawled with a flourished eye roll.
"All I am saying is that I'm sure no one is going to attempt besting you in your studies because they already know that they can't," Lily continued with a kind smile. "You have to start enjoying things outside studying for now, Hermione."
The brunette took a shaky breath, disbelieving how Lily's honest words had slapped her hard across her cheek.
She knew she had been a tad loony over studying ever since she had come to Hogwarts. Even in her past life, she could get carried away and would forget about herself until Harry and Ron snapped her back into reality. But in this lifetime, she had nothing else to do but to study. There were no crazy adventures that almost cost her life, or saving stupid best friends from their stupid fate.
Hermione briefly closed her eyes and finally became honest with herself.
The reason why she'd been obsessing over her studies for the past few years was because if she had too much fun in this lifetime, she'd inevitably come to love this world.
Then, once the horrors of the future unravelled, it would be too hard for her to look away.
"Hermione?" Lily asked, tone hesitant.
She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, noting that even Severus looked concerned with her sudden silence. "Okay," she then said with a small smile.
It warmed her heart how Lily looked terribly relieved. "Yeah?" she asked, still dubious.
Hermione mutely nodded her head.
Lily beamed brightly and pulled her into another hug. "For the record, I really do appreciate how you're fussing over our studies," she added. "I think it's really sweet. So, we'll try to stick to your schedule and make some tweaks along the way to just, you know, chill or something."
"We will?" Severus asked with a wrinkled nose.
"Yes, we will," Lily said, throwing him a withering glare. "Hermione worked hard on these after all."
"I may have gone a bit overboard with the scheduling, just so you know," Hermione said with a sheepish smile.
The Gryffindor redhead laughed. "We figured as much," she said, her emerald eyes twinkling.
"I'm sorry I get so overbearing sometimes," the brunette said. "It's a… well, a sickness I've been trying to get rid of for years."
The Slytherin snorted but did not grace her with any reply.
"We all have our faults," Lily said, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, now that we're in the library, I think I'll start doing my Transfiguration essay." She started pulling her things out of her bag and piling them on the table, but paused when Severus suddenly grabbed onto her Muggle notebook.
"What the hell is that?" he asked, waving it around.
"It's a notebook," she explained, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I don't understand why the Wizarding World still opts to use parchment for everything. Notebooks are actually really handy for taking down notes."
"Agreed," Hermione said with a firm nod.
"No, no, not that," he snapped. "I know what a notebook is. I'm talking about that."
He then pointed at the design on her notebook, pointing at the faces of four boys Hermione instantly recognised.
"The Beatles?" the brunette asked, her blue eyes widening in surprise.
"You know them?" Lily asked excitedly. When Hermione nodded her head, she beamed. "They have the best music, I tell you."
Hermione remembered the days when her father – her previous father – would play old tunes during a lazy Sunday afternoon. They usually consisted of the songs from one of his favourite bands, The Beatles, so Hermione could immediately recognise them with a single glance.
"Why are Muggles so obsessed over these frivolous things?" he said with disgust, placing her notebook back on the table.
"I'm a Half-blood but I know they have decent songs," Hermione pointed out, noting Lily's disgruntlement. "They do have nice songs, Sev."
He rolled his eyes and waved them away, now perusing in his own backpack to pull out his own supplies.
"Oh, right, it's a Hogsmeade weekend next week," Lily then said. "You have to come, Hermione. We'll give you a tour."
Hermione smiled. "I think I'd like that."
September 14, 1974
"Welcome to Hogsmeade, Hermione Pettigrew."
Hermione laughed when Lily made a funny little twirl, while Severus heaved an exhausted sigh. "Evans, honestly," the sour Slytherin muttered and started trekking towards Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.
"I thought we were going to the Three Broomsticks," Lily pointed out with a frown, but Severus merely waved her off and continued his journey towards the quill shop.
"I need some new quills too," Hermione quipped, quickly jogging towards Severus to catch up with him. Lily then had no choice but to follow her best friends inside.
The brunette couldn't help but smile at how nothing had changed in this shop. It was still terribly disappointing how there wasn't a proper bookshop in this small town, but Hermione had frequented Scrivenshaft's in the past because this was the closest she could get for her coveted bookstore. Numerous quills from various animals were proudly displayed on different wooden shelves. At the far left of the store, the ink wells of numerous shades were found. Rolls of parchments were hanging neatly above the counter.
The three students broke apart to gather their respective school supplies. By the time they met each other at the door, Hermione's hands were already full with her new studying tools.
"Three Broomsticks?" Lily offered.
"One more stop," Severus murmured, passing by the disappointed witch.
"Come on, Lils," Hermione smiled, hooking her arm with the redhead and dragging her out of the shop.
The brunette smiled widely at how beautiful Hogsmeade was in the fall. The uneven pathway was already covered with dried leaves of brown and orange and gold, happily crunching underneath their boots. There was already a chill in the air and Hermione was thankful she was able to don her thick, woollen, powder blue sweater to protect her from the cold.
It was refreshing to see Hogsmeade like this once more, and Hermione briefly closed her eyes, trying to imprint this vision in her mind forevermore.
Her eyes flew open when Lily tugged her arm. When she questioningly looked at the older witch, Lily pointed at a familiar withered structure. The Shrieking Shack looked less dilapidated but still terribly ominous. She figured Remus and his friends had maintained the place since they usually frequented it.
"That's the Shrieking Shack," Lily whispered fearfully under her breath. "Rumour has it its haunted."
Hermione glanced at Lily with a dubious smile. "Hogwarts is haunted to, you know, what with all the ghosts and poltergeists," she jokingly pointed out. Severus released a short laugh that made Lily glower at his back.
"You know what I mean," the blushing Gryffindor insisted.
"You still believe in that shite?" Severus asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder. "Some Gryffindor you are."
"No, I don't," Lily exclaimed, affronted. "It's just, I haven't really seen anyone go inside it, even in broad daylight. So, sometimes I do wonder what's inside."
Hermione bit back a grin, remembering how it had looked inside. "Some townspeople claim to hear howling at night, though," the brunette offered. "I heard Michelle and the others talking about it last night."
"Michelle?" Lily asked, knitting her eyebrows.
"Michelle Corner," she answered.
"Who?"
Hermione laughed. "They're my housemates, in my year," the brunette said.
"So, you do have friends in your own House," Severus said with a smirk on his face. He fell a few paces back so that both Hermione and Lily could catch up with him. "I always wondered why you hang out with us when you're a year younger than us. The only logical answer I can think of is that you have no friends at all."
"I have friends," Hermione hotly shot back, her cheeks warming at his words. "There's Dorothy, Michelle, and Alex."
"Who?" Lily echoed.
The brunette sighed. "Never mind that," she said.
Severus smirked at her disgruntled expression, but did not say anything anymore.
The Slytherin soon brought them into Honeydukes and proceeded to disappear before Hermione could even cross the threshold.
"The sourpuss loves sweets," Lily explained, laughing at her confused expression. "It's his fuel, so to speak. Leave him in Honeydukes unsupervised and he can actually spend his yearlong allowance until his teeth rot."
"That's not very healthy," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.
The redhead merely shrugged and happily pulled Hermione towards the stacks of Chocolate Frogs. Lily grabbed a handful of said chocolate and offered some to Hermione. But the younger witch shook her head, much to Lily's surprise.
"I still have a few back at my dorm from Peter," she explained.
"But, Hermione, these are Chocolate Frogs," Lily insisted. "They're the best chocolates in the Wizarding World. You can never have enough."
Hermione laughed. "I'm not really fond of chocolate," she said with an apologetic smile. "I'm more of a toffee kind of girl."
"Well, more for me then," Lily sighed, before pulling Hermione towards the small drawer full of toffees for Hermione. The brunette eagerly scooped a few and hesitated to get another heap for herself. Peter's toffee payment during her first year was already dwindling, and Hermione wondered if it would be all right for her to stack up some more.
"Oh, Hermione," the redhead laughed, grabbing a handful of toffees and depositing them on Hermione's palm. "It's all right. No one's going to Avada you for loving toffees so much."
She sheepishly smiled and remembered her dentist parents – who were technically not her parents anymore – and how they'd have an aneurysm just by looking at Hermione's toffees. Convinced that it wouldn't hurt to buy a few more, Hermione grabbed another handful before bringing them over to the counter.
Lily and Hermione hovered near the door and searched for their Slytherin friend. Maybe ten more minutes passed by, before Lily looked at Hermione and asked, "Do you reckon we should start searching for him?" She looked so comically worried that Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," she reassured.
Another five more minutes passed before they finally saw Severus. Hermione's eyes widened at the towering sweets in his arms—different kinds of candies hugged tightly against his chest—that could maybe last him until he graduated from Hogwarts.
"What the—"
"I didn't exaggerate when I said Sev loves sweets," Lily sighed. "Wait for us here, Hermione." She passed her paper bag to Hermione to hold and stomped towards the Slytherin.
Hermione watched in amusement as Lily berated him for buying too much given his budget and his teeth, warning him that his teeth would all one day rot because of his ridiculous obsession with sweets. Severus snarled his retorts in return, reasoning that he had saved enough for his Honeydukes treats, but Lily was having none of it. She tried to wrestle some liquorice wands from his hand and a few boxes of Bertie Botts before she was satisfied with his supply.
Lily was now ranting at the equally amused shop owner, telling him that they shouldn't introduce new candies yearly because they'd find themselves sold out immediately. While Lily was preoccupied with her ranting, the redhead was unable to see the soft look Severus was throwing her way.
But Hermione did, and it unsettled her deeply how there was earnest admiration in Severus's dark eyes.
Sometimes, she remembered Harry's story about how Severus Snape did everything he could just to protect him from Voldemort, all because he loved Lily Potter very much. It was laughable, because they grew up being terrorised by their Potions Master. He was ridiculously horrible at trying to show his protection for The-Boy-Who-Lived then, if Harry was speaking the truth.
She never really thought about their relationship in the past. All she saw was her same friendship with Harry and Ron, so she thought it was all just some stupid excuse to make Snape redeemable in her eyes. But recently, when Hermione found herself tired from reading and tried to rest her eyes by looking around the library, she'd see how Severus would look at an oblivious Lily and it was… it was beautiful. How his gaze spoke of his deep affection for the redhead, looking at her as if she was the sun that warmed his dark stormy nights.
Hermione knew Lily was obviously oblivious of the Slytherin's feelings for her. Lily acted as usual, like the jolly chatterbox she'd always been, and treated Sev like how she treated Hermione. The brunette didn't know how Severus felt about that, and sometimes wondered if she should urge him to start making a move just to relieve him from his misery – her misery, too, really, because it was getting annoying how he was pining over the redhead.
She'd thought they would make a wonderful pair, after all. Severus was always a sourpuss – Lily never got tired of pointing that out every day – and he really needed someone that could bring out the smile on his face. And although Lily was bright, she was a bloody true Gryffindor – reckless and brave and hot-tempered. Lily needed someone that could keep her grounded, but still challenged enough.
And Merlin, dear Merlin, Severus and Lily suited each other very much.
This disturbed Hermione infinitely because Lily belonged to James Potter. Without a Lily Potter, there would be no Harry Potter. And Hermione couldn't let that happen. Harry Potter should live, no matter how different he would treat her because she couldn't really become his best friend now.
Hermione tore her eyes away from the glowing pair with pained eyes, silently apologising to Severus for the inevitable future when he would nurse a broken heart.
"Three Broomsticks?" Lily then asked as she and Severus approached Hermione.
"Fine," Severus gruffly said.
Lily beamed brightly and hooked her arm with Hermione. As the older witch pulled the Ravenclaw out of Honeydukes, Hermione briefly shot a glance at Severus and noticed the warmth in his gaze once more. He seemed to sense Hermione's gaze, for he shifted his eyes to look at her. Upon seeing Hermione's frown, he quickly looked away, but not before Hermione noticed the redness of his cheeks.
-ooo-
Lily shrieked as Hermione instinctively pulled her away from the sudden explosion.
The trio stopped in their tracks and stared in horror at the thick smoke escaping from the Three Broomsticks.
"What the—" Severus murmured, but his words were drowned by the sudden screams erupting from inside. Lily and Hermione immediately took a few steps back as raucous shouts, mixed with boisterous laughter, grew louder.
The brunette's eyes widened when Peter suddenly tumbled out, landing quite painfully on his chest. He was quickly followed by a disgruntled Remus, but the gleaming humour in his golden eyes was unmistakable. Following him was James Potter, his glasses askew and half of his robe singed with a few embers still glinting at the hem. He was merrily laughing, tears streaming down from his hazel eyes, and was unable to notice that he was still slightly on fire. Peter quickly blew the flames away and grinned widely at him.
"Rosmerta, dearest, I swear, I swear it was an accident!" Sirius hollered, shooting out from the pub and quickly hiding behind his hysterical best friend. Madame Rosmerta, still quite young and very stunning, stomped out from the Three Broomsticks with murder in her glittering violet eyes. She was pointing her wand at Sirius, trying to growl a hex, but with James blocking him, she was unable to do so.
"You boys always bring trouble when you're in here!" she shrieked, now angrily shaking her wand around. James had to scoot his head away to keep the end of her wand from poking out his eye. "One more. One more, and you will be banned from coming here forever!"
"Come now, Rosmerta. Rosie," Sirius appeased. The barmaid did not appreciate his nickname and growled in return. "Sorry, sorry, we didn't really mean it."
Rosmerta's eyes glinted dangerously. "Lie again and I'm going to hex your tongue off, Sirius Black," she threatened.
James's laughs had died down by then, and even Sirius paled at the threat. The Black heir then slowly raised both of his hands to gesture his surrender.
With one last mighty glare, she hissed at the pranksters and turned around.
"But you will still marry me once I graduate, right, Rosie dear?" Sirius hopefully asked. Remus shushed him loudly and hit him against his ribs, effectively shutting him up.
Instead of answering Sirius, she exclaimed a loud 'Reparo' at her door and stomped inside, loudly shutting the door behind her back. Her actions rattled the walls so much it made the Gryffindor boys flinch.
It was Peter who first broke the silence. "Well… it was worth it though, yeah?" He was grinning like a bloody fool.
James burst into uncontrollable laughter once again and doubled over. "Bloody fucking worth it," he managed to wheeze through his laughing.
"What the hell was that?" Lily then demanded, lightly glaring at the boys.
They then realised that the trio standing to the side had watched the whole debacle.
"Hermione!" her brother greeted.
The brunette, despite her curiosity about their prank, smiled. "Hello, brother," she replied. "What was that all about?"
"Never mind that now, kitten," Sirius said, shooting her a huge grin. "How's your first time in Hogsmeade? I hope you've been well."
"I'm not entirely sure why you're interested," Hermione said, scrunching her nose.
The corner of Remus' lips twitched when Sirius dramatically placed a hand against his heart. "Wow, ouch, Hermione," he scoffed. "I'm just trying to be nice to my best mate's little sister."
Before Hermione could answer, James Potter was suddenly stumbling forward, his cheeks blazing red. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced down at Lily. "Evans, hi. Having fun?" he asked, attempting to throw a lazy smirk her way that only made him look ridiculous, since half of his robe was burnt by whatever prank they had pulled inside the pub.
Lily made a face. "What's it to you, Potter?" she harrumphed, turning away and pulling Hermione into the pub. Severus sneered at the Gryffindors and closely followed behind.
Hermione, however, was surprised with James' sudden change in attitude. She craned her neck and found him still stupidly grinning at Lily's back.
'Huh,' she thought, blinking her eyes. 'Well, things are starting to get interesting.'
November 26, 1974
The fire in the common room was already burning low, but none of the four Gryffindors stood up from their seats.
James lazily pulled out his golden snitch and started tossing it in the air, his hazel eyes gazing unseeingly at the licking fire. His mind was elsewhere, thinking distractedly about what would happen during the full moon two days from now. Remus looked worse for wear, and was absolutely cranky; the other three had been walking on eggshells around him lest the werewolf suddenly burst into a raging tantrum. Although Remus was the best of them, and people did say he was the kindest amongst his friends, his temper fuelled by werewolf blood was something else entirely.
They still hadn't perfected their Animagi forms. He was quite good with Transfiguration – dare he say it, he was one of the best – but transforming into an Animagus was mighty time consuming. The first time Sirius had suggested they become one to keep Remus company during the full moon, James was admittedly ecstatic. But when Remus pointed out how bothersome the steps would be just to become one, James started having doubts.
The ingredients to brew the potion weren't hard to find, especially as there were two Pureblood heirs among the group. The process, however, was almost ridiculous, but they pushed through nonetheless. They had to repeat certain steps, like placing a Mandrake leaf inside their mouth for a month because Peter sometimes swallowed it down when he was eating, or Sirius would spit it out in his sleep.
Despite the numerous failures, they continued. They still had to wait for the next thunderstorm to rage over Hogwarts to complete the ritual, and James was hoping it would happen before the full moon.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Sirius suddenly barked.
James blearily blinked his eyes and looked over at the Black heir. Sirius was waving pieces of parchment with multicolored, highlighted words. James lifted an eyebrow and looked at Peter, who turned a light shade of pink.
"Err…" he sheepishly started, "it's a colour-coded schedule made by my sister. She insists that I should start studying for my OWLs."
Remus glanced up from his Herbology textbook and lightly smiled. "She isn't entirely wrong, you know," he pointed out.
James snorted and pocketed his golden snitch. "We're still bloody fourth years," he complained. "We have another year before we worry about OWLs."
"Hermione's persistent," Peter said with an exasperated sigh. "Said that if I wanted to become an Auror, I should start working harder for my OWLs."
"She isn't entirely wrong about that either," Remus crankily murmured under his breath, prompting Peter to glare in his direction.
"I can't believe your sister's such a swot," Sirius laughed, tossing the colour-coded parchments back inside Peter's backpack. "Here I thought Remus was already a swot, but Merlin Almighty, your sister's an entirely different level of swottiness."
The sandy-haired boy shrugged. "Hermione loves to study," he explained. "Mum tried to push her to discover other hobbies when we were younger, but we always found her reading a new novel or something." A fond smile appeared on Peter's face that was not left unnoticed by the other three.
"And I also can't believe you are related to her," James pointed out with a wide grin. "Maybe she sucked out all the brains in your family and didn't leave any for you."
"Hey!" Peter cried, affronted.
"You're not really going to stick with this bloody schedule, are you?" the Black heir asked, comfortably shifting on the couch to lay his head on Remus' lap. The werewolf emitted a low growl at the back of his throat and tried to push the obnoxious boy away, but Sirius merely snuggled deeper until Remus relented.
"Hermione can be really persistent," Peter interjected. "And you know how she gets with that temper of hers…" He trailed off and meaningfully looked at James, unabashedly pointing at his nose.
James, in retaliation, gave him a tight, false smile and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. Peter merely grinned, unfazed.
"Anyway," Sirius said, sitting up on the couch once more with an excited glint in his eyes. "Have you guys thought about my prank proposal for tomorrow?"
"Pass," Remus murmured without skipping a beat.
"Aw, come on, Remus!" the Black heir whined.
The werewolf glared at him out of the corner of his eyes. "If you must know, Black, the full moon is coming up so I'm not up for some stupid pranking right now," he growled.
"I hate Cranky Remus the most," Sirius sighed. He then directed his silver eyes at the sandy-haired boy. "Petey?"
"Sorry, I promised Hermione I'd study with her in the library tomorrow," he answered with an apologetic smile.
Sirius was starting to look exasperated. "Jamesy?" he asked, bordering pleading. "Please, mate, you're my only hope."
"Sorry, Sirius m'boy," the bespectacled Gryffindor said. "I have Quidditch practice tomorrow and with the upcoming match against Slytherin approaching, I can't really ditch it."
The Black heir groaned and fell back into Remus' lap. "You guys are no fun at all," he pointed out.