Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

A/N: This is originally a one-shot, but I decided to turn this into a multichapter instead. The soulmate trope always fascinated me for some reason; time travel, not so much. So, what will happen if I put those two together? We get this. But, not gonna lie, I'm still not a fan of time travel, so rather than time travelling, this is more 'universe/dimension/space' travelling. I don't think anyone has done this kind of concept before, to be honest, so I'm pretty excited. Hope you guys enjoy! ~ NR xx

Chapter One

The End

The first—and last—time James kissed Lily, he felt that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

It was an accidental kiss and it was nothing more than a mere brush of the lips. They had been arguing before it happened. One minute, Lily was screaming at him and the next, some first year bumped into him, making him trip and almost fall into Lily. His lips had brushed hers for a millisecond before it ultimately landed on her cheek when she moved her head away. He had not even regained his balance before she pushed him off her, slapped him in his face and stormed off—leaving him all alone, staring at a small spot on the stone wall as he pondered about the too brief kiss.

Sirius would argue that it was barely anything and not enough to make an impact. Remus would agree with him and Peter would snicker at his unfortunate luck. She didn't even kiss him back. Hell, she had moved her head away before it could progress any further. It was nothing compared to what other fifteen/sixteen years old got up to in an ancient castle with multiple cupboards, hidden nooks, secret passageways, and abandoned and forgotten classrooms.

Sirius would laugh himself silly if he found out that just because of one kiss—a sorry, pitiful excuse of a kiss—James was now too daze by what had occurred. He would've ribbed him about being whipped and for being starstruck because of some useless excuse of a kiss.

But James wasn't frozen because he was starstruck.

He couldn't move because of the gnawing voice in his head that told him how wrong it was to kiss Lily. The shudders he felt wasn't because of desire—but because of disgust. Kissing her—as brief as it was—felt so horrible that he might as well have kissed Filch instead. It wasn't what James had expected to feel and it had certainly caught him off guard.

There was supposed to be a paused in time, some fireworks exploding in the background, or something else that would make the act special even if it was accidental. He should've been dizzied with euphoria, his heart should've been beating fast and loud, his lips should've tingle, and he should've wanted more. However, he felt none of those things.

When his lips had brushed hers, it felt wrong—so wrong in fact that he could taste bile at the back of his throat. It was his first kiss-but-not-really-kiss and yet, James was certain that the world was about to end with how horrible he felt after.

He grabbed his stomach and gulped down the saliva gathering in his mouth. He didn't understand his reaction or what he was feeling. He didn't understand why Lily's lips tasted like werewolf slobber for him even as her breath smelled like spearmint toothpaste. He didn't understand why his heart wasn't beating fast but rather clenching painfully inside of his chest—it felt like a chore to breathe. He didn't understand why instead of love, it was disgust and disdain that was rolling under his skin.

It was unlike the stories and descriptions that Sirius used to tell him to satisfy his curiosity. James had never felt so thoroughly disgusted at himself because of that one kiss and he shuddered as he thought about doing it again, already balking at the thought of a mere innocent touch from Lily.

It was a strange feeling.

James had always thought that he loved Lily Evans. He even proclaimed to the rest of the world that he was going to marry her someday. He had done everything in his power to ensure that he was a willing wizard to date (and eventually marry) if Lily was inclined to start seeing someone. He had fantasized what it would feel like to kiss Lily's supple lips, to trail his fingers down her soft looking fair skin, and to smell her Lavender scented hair up close.

He had been so convinced that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her—nevermind that she hated his guts. Nevermind that she always screamed at him, always complained at his attention and gifts, and always called him the foulest names that even Sirius and Remus cringed at.

Now, he felt his world falling apart because of that kiss. Accident as it was, just a millisecond of lips-against-lips, it didn't stop his whole fantasy world from crumbling apart. James was still shaking from the aftereffects. He felt retched and disgusted, not at Lily, but at himself. He felt like he was bathing in slime made out of a troll's snot.

It felt awful and he knew, right then and there, that there was no way he would want to feel this kind of feeling again. And all of this was because of Lily's kiss-but-not-quite-kiss, the girl who was his present and who was supposed to be his future.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach and the urge to vomit at his throat, he knew that his future with Lily could never be.

He knew that he would never be the same again.

It was common knowledge in the Wizarding World that everyone had a soulmate—the one person who was compatible with you in each and every way possible. Because of magic, each witch and wizard had a soulmate sign that could pinpoint their soulmates for them. These signs came in different forms and different ways. The most common forms of a soulmate sign were tattoos of birthdates, name initials, symbols, or even the first and/or last words spoken to them.

Some shared the same dreams, thoughts, scars, sicknesses/injuries, or see colors once they found their soulmates. Others could exchange or correspond through words or drawings written across the skin, had clocks embedded in their bodies to determine when to meet them, could see through each other's eyes when they closed their eyes, and could even apparate to them once they were of age.

There were written accounts where soulmates met in their dreams first before meeting in real life. Many claimed they caught glimpses of their future with their soulmates. There were physical changes manifesting as well such as a brown hair streaked in gold or one of their eyes changing to the eye color of their match. There were several who could feel when their soulmate was nearby like some sort of sixth sense. There was even a select few that could pinpoint their soulmate through touch, sight, smell, hear, or taste.

Each soulmate sign was unique to the other, and most soulmates had the same sign. But there were a few who had different signs that still corresponded with their soulmates. For example: one of them could have a birthdate sign while the other could have a symbol sign—but the signs are still connected.

Although destined to be together, some soulmates weren't right for each other. Soulmates or not, it took both parties to make compromises, to trust and love each other despite all odds. Some soulmates didn't have what it took to maintain that kind of commitment. In the end, those kinds of soulmates didn't stay together.

Rejecting a soulmate was completely unheard of, but one that still happened from time to time. Some matches were meant to be; others were made in heaven; but there are instances when a match deserved the fiery pits of hell. (Case in point: Orion and Walburga Black). There were multiple accounts that stated that couples who weren't soulmates usually noted that they felt something was missing in their lives despite insisting that they were happy with their partners.

It was rare for a wizard, especially a Pureblood one, to not have a soulmate. Everyone had a match and wizards and witches trusted soulmate magic, one of the most ancient and powerful magic there was in the Wizarding World.

James Charlus Potter hadn't been born with a mark on his skin and no matter how many times he wrote words on every single part of his body, no words from his soulmate would appear. He didn't get sick often—especially with an overprotective mother watching over him—and he never heard a voice in his head that wasn't his own. He also didn't have prophetic dreams where he met his soulmate or saw their future together. He knew that he had a soulmate somewhere out there so the only problem he had was to find her—or him.

James' parents, Charlus and Dorea Potter, had known that they were soulmates from the moment their eyes met. "Love at first sight," would be the apt term for it. James knew that he would get one of the five human senses somehow because of his parents. So, when he saw Lily Evans in the tender age of eleven and had been struck by the sight of her emerald green eyes and gleaming red hair, he thought he'd found his soulmate.

She was beautiful back then—and until now, of course—and he was so entranced by her beauty that the first time he approached her, he immediately proposed to her. Even when she screamed, insulted, and hexed him, he'd been so certain that she was the one for him.

That was until the night of the accidental kiss-but-not-really-a-kiss.

In all of his life, he had never kissed anyone, not even once and not even at Sirius' and Remus' insistence. Both of his friends had been worried about his obsession with the beautiful redhead, so they tried to divert his attention to other people. They suggested many girls and a couple of guys (in case he swung that way which was appreciated but wasn't necessary) but when he told him that Lily was his soulmate—or at least he thought at that time that she was—they backed off.

That didn't stop Sirius though who occasionally tried to set him up with a couple of witches throughout the years. But James never took his offers, vowing to save himself for Lily and only Lily—because that was how devoted he was to her, to his freaking soulmate.

If he only knew that kissing her would taste as rotten as drinking Polyjuice Potion, he would've reconsidered that decision.

James was unable to look at Lily the same way since their accidental kiss-but-a-pathetic-excuse-of-a-kiss. He was quite relieved that Lily also seemed as though she was avoiding him, which made things easier for him. His friends were all curious why he stopped pursuing the ever-beautiful Lily and although he made excuses, he knew that he failed at convincing them.

Everyone knew that he had been in love with Lily since the first time he saw her, so his behavior was utterly confusing them. Even Sirius—who normally wasn't Lily's biggest fan after her numerous rejections of James—had asked him about his change of heart.

But James still couldn't tell them the truth.

The truth that one mere kiss deemed that Lily wasn't worthy of him and that magic itself told him that he and Lily didn't deserve each other.

No, he couldn't admit that to his friends or to anyone else. It felt like a betrayal. He had invested so much time in courting her, so convinced that magic had chosen her for him and only him. He'd told everyone he knew that he loved her, that he wanted to marry her, that she would be the next Mrs. Potter, that she was going to be the mother of his children, and all of those fantasies and dreams had been for naught.

James felt as though he'd been cheated because if this beautiful, intelligent, vivacious, and perfect witch wasn't meant for him, then who was?

He couldn't handle knowing that she wasn't his soulmate, and after many years of being certain that she was, he was now fearing the uncertainty. He was terrified of facing the fact that someone out there—someone who wasn't Lily—was his soulmate, waiting for him to find her.

He knew that he could still find his soulmate, that he had the tools to do it, but the idea of kissing someone else and feeling the same disgust that crawled under his skin again wasn't appealing to him. So, there was absolutely no way of knowing who unless he willingly kissed someone again—and that was something he would never do after what he felt the first time.

This fact—coupled with the uncertainty and fear—had made him act irate, broody, and callous to everyone around him. Sirius had already walked out of him twice after he told him a particular nasty comment or two. He also made Peter cower and cry in multiple occasions, and even Remus had nearly maimed him with his werewolf strength.

James couldn't help it. Despite the guilt coursing through him for acting like a prat to his best friends, he still couldn't stop taking his frustration out on them.

It just felt so unfair. Sirius and Remus had already found their own soulmates. Sirius had found his soulmate, the spunky and energetic Dorcas Meadowes, back when they were in their fourth year. Meanwhile Remus had found his soulmate, Sirius' younger brother, the sarcastic and studious Regulus Black, back when they were in third year. Even Peter found his soulmate in sweet and pretty Mary MacDonald just a couple of months ago.

He was the only one who hadn't found his. He had a vision! He had a dream! He had Lily! And magic had betrayed all those three. He loved Lily—still did—and he couldn't accept the fact that she wasn't his soulmate. James was sulking because of that. In result, he took all of his angst and anger at everyone around him because it was easier that way than giving in to the awful reality of never having Lily.

Of course, that was until Sirius called him a git and then proceeded to punch him. Not one to be overdone, James retaliated—which turned into a full-blown fight in the Gryffindor common room where Lily herself put a stop to it and made them go to the Hospital Wing after deducting twenty points each.

Currently, he and Sirius were getting treatment from Madam Pomfrey, the new Mediwitch of the school, and they weren't speaking to each other. James knew that it was all his fault, but he was also prideful enough not to admit it.

James pouted as the Mediwitch treated his bruise while also clucking her tongue in disapproval. Remus was across him and James could practically feel his disapproval vibrating off of him. Peter was eyeing all of them but darted his eyes quickly, his body trembling slightly. In all five years of their friendship, James and Sirius were thick as thieves and brothers in arms. They never fought so them trying to beat the shit out of the other was strange for all of them.

"What happened to the both of you?" Remus asked as soon as the Mediwitch was out of earshot.

"What happened to us?" Sirius spat then shot a glare at James which he returned easily. "Why don't you ask him? He's been in a shitty mood for several weeks now!"

"We already talked about that, Pads," Remus murmured to the Black heir, sighing under his breath.

James frowned. They were talking about him when he wasn't around?

"That doesn't excuse what he said," Sirius grumbled. "I can handle any shit thrown at me as long as it isn't about my family or about Dorcas. But the asshole over there just had to mention them both at the same time." Sirius looked at him. "What the hell is the matter with you, Prongs? You've been acting strange and being a prat. Did Lily reject you again? If she did, don't take it out on us because we don't deserve this."

Neither Remus nor Peter spoke a word to contradict Sirius. It was probably because what he said was the truth. James knew it was bad when people started agreeing with Sirius since people tended to disagree with him on a daily basis.

James sighed and ruffled his hair, guilt churning inside him. "You're right," he said to them, looking down at his lap. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It definitely should not," Remus stated firmly. "But why are you in such an awful mood for weeks? What happened, James?"

James frowned. "Can we not talk about this? I said I wasn't going to do it again."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Do you think that with the shitty weeks you dragged us into, we'd let this go? Come on, mate. You got to do better than that."

James scowled at Sirius but dropped his gaze when he met Remus's knowing stare. Damn it. He shut his eyes close, feeling a pressure in his chest that made it difficult for him to breathe. He didn't want to admit it aloud; he didn't want to say it, ever. But what was he going to do? His friends were demanding for the hard and painful truth.

Everyone thought that Lily was his soulmate and were all waiting for him and Lily to get together—even if Sirius continuously convinced him to turn his attention to another witch the more Lily rebuffed him.

Now everything was all pointless.

"Can't we just move on from all of this?" James said almost pleadingly. "It's done and I'm going to be back to normal."

Remus gave him a pointed look. "Don't think for a second that you can get away with this, James."

The Potter heir sighed heavily and dropped his head. "I..." The words lodged in his throat and he all but physically dragged the words out of his mouth. "I found out that Lily... Lily isn't my soulmate after all."

Silence. Then—

"WHAT?" They all shouted in shock.

James shut his eyes close.

"But... you've been so sure, Prongs..." Peter said gingerly, exchanging uncertain looks with Remus and Sirius. "You told us that she was your soulmate back in our second year. What happened? What changed?"

James threw his head back and stared at the cracks on the ceiling. "Well, it turns out that she— she isn't my soulmate after all. I found out when I sort of... kind of... kissed her... and it was awful." He shuddered just thinking about those awful emotions evoked by a simple kiss.

"Oh, so that's why Lily's been avoiding you," Peter remarked.

"Wait, how do you sort of, kind of, kiss someone?" Sirius asked aloud, puzzled.

Remus waved his question away. "That isn't the point," he said impatiently before turning his solemn eyes at James. "So, that's why you're in such a mood all those weeks?"

"Well, how would you feel if you were in my case?" James asked defensively. "How was I supposed to know that she wasn't my soulmate? When I saw her, I thought that she was, and I was so sure but then... we kissed and then..." He sighed as he remembered the kiss. "It was... it was really awful..."

"And that's how you found out that she wasn't your soulmate?" Peter asked and James nodded. "How do you know so easily?"

James smiled wearily. "The same way you all knew who your soulmates were."

His three friends exchanged looks again.

"Maybe it was just a fluke of sorts?" Sirius suggested, shrugging his shoulders, his concern evident in his eyes.

James closed his eyes again. "It wasn't..." he sighed. "It wasn't even about Lily; it was about me. I felt it. I felt like I did something wrong, you know. Like I wronged someone else. I was revolted by my own actions. Everything in me was urging me to stay away and to never do that again. It was like my body was sending warning sparks at me and alarms were going off when I kissed her. It was soulmate magic; I knew it was."

"Yikes." Peter winced.

Sirius looked at James with horror. "Does that mean that you can never kiss other girls again?"

He shuddered just thinking about kissing other girls again. The revulsion rolled over his stomach and chilled his spine. The phantom feel of the bile in the back of his throat made him bite his tongue. He would not be kissing other girls if he could avoid these feelings again.

"Oh man, that sucks," Sirius remarked with something akin to pity when he saw James cringing.

Of course, he would be pitied by Sirius. At least Sirius and the others had indulged in a dalliance or two (or multiple ones in Sirius' case) before meeting their soulmates. Well, except for Remus since he had met Regulus in such a young age compared to everyone else. It wasn't exactly a taboo to date other people who weren't your soulmates as long as it wasn't anything remotely close to serious.

But James had never done that, dedicating himself to one witch and one witch only. Now they just found out that he could never exchange casual and harmless fun with other witches because the soulmate magic prohibited him from doing so.

Not that James wanted to. After kissing Lily and finding out that she wasn't his soulmate, he might as well be swearing off witches from here on out.

Merlin, out of all soulmate signs, why did he have the most complicated one? He'd rather have sight, scent, hear, or touch; but no, he had taste of all things.

"Merlin, you're so fucked," Sirius commented as he leaned back in the cot, his hands planted behind him to support his weight.

"Why?" James asked quizzically.

Sirius had a shit-eating grin on his face. "You do realize that you spent so many years chasing after Lily, right? And you were never quiet or shy about it, Prongs. So, there's a huge possibility that your soulmate—the true one—saw all of those years when you proclaimed your love to another person and insisted that that person was your soulmate. Can you imagine what your true soulmate must've felt those times?" He snickered when James blanched. "Yeah, you are so fucked."

Groaning, James fell down the bed on his back as the heels of his palms rubbed his eyes. "Merlin, I suck."

Knowing his soulmate sign didn't make it easier for him. Now that James had confessed the truth to his best friends, he now had to worry about finding his soulmate again, trying to convince her that he was her soulmate, and that Lily had been an honest to Merlin mistake. It was difficult since everyone in Hogwarts thought that Lily was his soulmate based by his very own claims.

What confused James the most was that if Lily wasn't his soulmate, why didn't she say so? For all of her rejections, she never once refuted his claims that she was his soulmate. She had let the rumors be and had let him feed those rumors. It was all very strange to think about that James quickly dismissed it the moment it entered his mind.

Sirius tried to convince him to forget about Lily and move on, but it was hard. James had been in love with her for five years and even though she wasn't his soulmate in the end, he still loved her; he gave his all for her and had lost himself in her. He loved watching her eyes spark with anger, knowing that he had affected her some way or another, and especially loved the way her silky hair flared brightly in the light.

It was hard because he fell in love with someone who wasn't his soulmate and that meant that he could never have Lily Evans ever again (not that he had her to begin with). Even though he felt revulsion crawling under his skin when he (accidentally) kissed her, it didn't change the fact that he had fallen in love with her.

It was quite a predicament to be in, but it wasn't until Remus spoke to him that James realize how unfair it would be for his soulmate to have him pining after someone else. Remus told James what an utter prat he was for mistakenly assuming another girl as his soulmate and made it his entire mission to woo her and get together with her when she wasn't even his soulmate to begin with.

His soulmate might not be Lily, Remus had said, but James owed his to give themselves a chance. Chastised and guilty, James promised to let go of Lily and try to find his soulmate because in the end, Remus was right. Even if he had fallen in love with Lily, he had to give him and his soulmate a chance to be together.

So, for the first time in his life, James was now looking at girls that weren't Lily and he was a bit shocked to learn that some of the girls had gotten prettier and more beautiful the older they got.

There had been Narcissa Black (now Malfoy), who was a Slytherin a couple of years older, with her ice blue eyes that were mesmerizing in the light. Then there was Alice Greengrass, a Ravenclaw in their year, that had a cute dimple in her left cheek when she smiled. Then there was Marlene McKinnon, a Gryffindor in their year also, whose dark bedroom eyes could incite fantasies beyond his wildest dreams.

He had been so fixated on Lily that he had never noticed the other girls' blossoming beauty.

But some part of him, the one that had fallen in love at first sight with Lily, rebelled. He felt guilty for looking at other girls. Because of that, he ended up comparing Lily to all of them and noted that Lily seemed far and above the girls in Hogwarts. Narcissa was too snobbish (plus married), Alice was too boyish (and also quite taken), and Marlene was too promiscuous.

If Remus heard James' thoughts, he would've scolded him, but James couldn't help it! Every girl was either too much or too little while Lily remained the 'just right' category. It was very hard to think about Lily as less than this and less than that; it felt like his brain had been ingrained to put Lily in a pedestal—holding her high in the air for everyone to see the perfection that was Lily Evans.

Okay, so maybe he was biased. Maybe he shouldn't hold her in the pedestal when her soulmate could be anywhere, thinking that he was such an asshole for pining after someone else that he wasn't destined to be with.

He liked to think that he was brave enough to continue pursuing Lily and then marrying her despite of this revelation but if there was one thing that his parents had taught him, it was trusting in magic and all it entailed. However, matters of the heart was a different thing entirely. Saying something wasn't the same as doing them. It was easy to convince the others that he was moving on from Lily when in reality, he still struggled to let her go.

And maybe that was why he had never noticed her before.

He had first seen her leaving the library, carrying a thick tome close to her chest as she chatted with Sirius' younger brother and Remus' soulmate about a homework in Ancient Runes.

He'd noticed her because she was talking to Regulus and he knew enough about Remus' soulmate to know that he wasn't the friendly sort. Regulus was a pretentious snob and James was surprised to see him hanging out with a girl with crazy hair in desperate need of a brush. But it was that same hair that truly captured his attention and what he had fixated on for many months to come.

Her back was turned to him so he could only spot the back of her head and her rich voluminous chocolate brown curls spiraling down her back. His eyes were stuck on it as it bounced, coiled tighter, and went loose whenever she moved her head. He didn't why; it was just something that fascinated him.

It was different from Lily's. Hers was straight and silky and never out of place while the witch that Regulus was talking to have her hair exploding in every direction possible. Lily had a bright ruby red hair while hers was a dark chocolate brown. He hadn't seen her face because Sirius had called him to ask suggestions about an anniversary present for Dorcas. By the time they were done talking, she had already left.

And as creepy as it sounded, he had never forgotten the sight of her hair after that.

The second time was in a Double Potions class with Slughorn. He had been late and had been forced to sit at the back with some Ravenclaw prat that ignored him. When he looked ahead to Professor Slughorn, his eyes landed on the large curls again, located at the very front of the room. It was too distinctive not to forget. James found it funny that he never noticed her or her hair before and now, he was seeing it in his classes. All throughout Slughorn's lesson, his eyes kept wandering to her hair and he was so distracted by the sight of it that it resulted in one giant explosion in the Potions classroom and a week's worth of detention.

Now he couldn't stop thinking about her hair and who she was and why hadn't he noticed her before?

He also couldn't help but wonder if her hair was as soft as it looked.

The third time he'd seen her, he finally got a good look of her face. He was in the library that time (shocking, right?), accompanying Remus while Sirius and Peter snuck out to get them snacks from the Kitchens. He was playing with the snitch he stole back in his second year while Remus wrote a ten inches long essay about the effects of Impedimenta on blood for DADA. He was just minding his own business when someone suddenly came up to their table.

And it was her.

And she was pretty.

She was pretty—or at least, she would be pretty if someone looked closely enough. One might dismiss her as plain at first glance but the longer that James stared at her, the more it affirmed his thoughts that she was indeed pretty. There was no hint of makeup or glamor on her face aside from the glossy sheen of her plump pink lips. She was a tiny thing standing at five feet and three inches, minus if you didn't include her hair. Her hair was even bigger up close, wilder, and somehow more enticing; James had to stuff his hands inside the pocket of his robes just to stop himself from reaching out and test his theory if it was soft.

He noticed her uniform and had been surprised to note that she was in Gryffindor. James was stunned. It was strange that he had never seen her in the common room before. What nearly stopped his heart was her doe-like honey brown eyes that was almost as light as Remus' amber ones; but James preferred hers over Remus.

"Hello, there," she said.

Her voice wasn't soft or rough but rather clear, slightly low, but very feminine. She sounded embarrassed and looked sheepish as she attempted to smile at them. James was disheartened to see that she was looking at Remus rather than at him.

"Yes?" Remus asked, smiling kindly. "Hermione, right?"

Hermione? Her name was Hermione? It was so different and so uncommon with a face as natural as hers. James shot a look at Remus. And he knew her? What? He frowned. Why didn't he say anything?

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I've noticed you have the book I need for Charms." She pointed at one of the many books that Remus had scattered around the table. Whenever Remus studied, he had the tendency to borrow every book in every subject available, which some Ravenclaws found annoying. "I really need it for my homework and I'm wondering if I can borrow it. I'll give it back once I'm done. It's just really important."

James watched with avid attention when she sucked her lower lip and bit it down using two large front teeth. He was very certain that his mind had gone blank for a moment there.

"Oh, here." Remus handed her the book, smiling sheepishly. "I don't really need it anymore."

"Oh, thank you!"

She smiled and fuck it if James didn't want her to smile at him too. He watched as she left—without looking at him, at all—and paid extra attention to her bouncy curls. Once he'd given them the attention they deserve, he turned back to Remus, slightly dazed.

"Who was that?"

There must be something in James' voice that Remus found alarming or worth paying attention to because the werewolf instantaneously snapped his wide eyes to him.

"Who was who?" Remus asked, confused.

"That girl who borrowed the book," he elaborated. "You know, the cute girl with crazy hair."

Remus blinked in shock. "James, you don't know her?"

James shook his head slowly. "No, I don't. But apparently, you do."

Remus snorted. "James," he said, voice suddenly serious, "of course I know her." He frowned. "She's Severus Snape's younger sister."

And just like that, everything came crushing down and anything that could've began had ultimately ended.