Chapter Six: Chemistry

Hermione stared into the mirror, adjusting her tie. "Hurry up, Hera!" called Lily from the other room. "We're going to be late for breakfast!" Hermione grunted in response and, finally satisfied with her tie, took a step back from the mirror to observe the image reflected before her. She looked the same she always had...or maybe a little different.

Hermione ran a hand through her hair. While still bushy, it was a little more tamed than the frizzy mess she possessed her first year. She continued to look in the mirror and smiled wide, her white teeth glimmering. Two anal dentists for parents ensured that they kept white as snow, and two years ago, an unknowing Draco Malfoy had made them just the right size. Her scrutinizing eyes ran over her body, and she frowned. She had grown a few inches, and had filled in here and there, but she still possessed a bit of baby fat. Hermione sighed. Overall, she came to the conclusion that she hadn't changed much. She was still plain ole Hermione, the one who was always a friend but never more than just "one of the guys." Harry certainly had never noticed her. She shoved Harry to the back of her mind. Never mind that. She would probably go back in a day or so, but until then she would enjoy the time she had.

"Hera!" Lily scolded from the door, observing her new friend frowning into the mirror. "You're beautiful," she assured, pulling Hermione out of the bathroom. "Now let's go."

A sudden thought entered Hermione's mind, something she had forgotten to ask Lily about the previous night. "Hey, Lil," she started, almost scared to ask the question, "who was that Slytherin girl last night in the hallway with Snape?"

Lily stopped in her tracks and frowned. "Oh, her. You're sure to have many more disputes with that girl, especially now that you've provoked her. That was Bellatrix Black."

"Bellatrix Black," Hermione repeated, her worse fears confirmed. It was Sirius's cousin; his killer.

"Yeah, she's a nasty one. But I never knew her to hang around Snape. They're usually loners, and it's definitely not a good thing if they've decided to join forces." She paused, thinking for a moment. "But you need not worry about her now. We've gotta get going, I wanted to pass through the common room before the Marauders got up, although I might as well warn you now that they'll probably already be there, looking for mischief."

"Oh, great!" Hermione muttered as she was dragged down the stairs to the common room, but she couldn't deny the sensation she felt at the prospect of seeing James again. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Hermione took in the room before her. The perpetual fire was burning warmly in the fireplace, rays of light streaked in through the stained windows, and there were the four boys, looking like they hadn't moved an inch from the scarlet couches they had been planted on night before.

"What took so long?" muttered Sirius grumpily, "I'm starving."

Hermione and Lily exchanged grins. "Not quite the same charmer in the morning, are we Black?" Hermione taunted, playfully slapping him on the shoulder.

Sirius, fully awake, grabbed the hand she used to hit him. He intertwined his finger with hers, brushing the back of her hand with his fingertips. Drawing his face closer until it was barely inches from hers, he replied, "Good morning to you too, sweetheart. Did you dream about me? Because I sure did dream about you!"

"Sirius, stop!" screeched Lily, whapping him with a gold trimmed pillow she grabbed off the couch. The beating had its effect—Sirius released Hermione and she hurried over to Lily. As Sirius approached them, they both whipped out their wands.

"Think again, Romeo," Hermione threatened, winking at him.

Sirius grinned and put up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm too hungry to bother, anyway."

Laughing, the girls once again linked arms and headed toward the Great Hall. The four boys followed closely behind. "It's a much better view back here anyway," muttered Sirius. The other three snickered.

Severus Snape looked up from the eggs on his plate and glared over at the Gryffindor table, observing the actions of the group he despised more than anything. He focused particularly on their newest member—the bushy haired witch who had thoroughly humiliated him. From across the table Bellatrix Black turned in her seat, followed his gaze and sneered when she found its target. "That Ranger girl is going to pay," she said diabolically, "along with Potty, my idiot cousin, and the rest of the gang."

Snape focused his eyes on her. "Yes, but we have to be careful. You saw what she did with the wands. It's obvious that she's a really skilled witch."

Bellatrix ran a hand through her thick dark hair. "You're right, Severus. She said that she's pureblood, and it's obvious that she comes from a powerful wizarding family, although without a doubt not as powerful as mine," she commented arrogantly as she glanced at the girl once more. "Nevertheless, she should have been a Slytherin. We'll show her that."

Snape grinned evilly, "Yes, we will. And look at how your pathetic cousin is drooling over her. We can get him too."

"Of course," said Bellatrix, returning her heavy-lidded eyes to her plate, "there is never too much revenge when it comes to Gryffindors."

Hermione could not remember the last time she had so much fun. She loved her school and her friends from the future; but there was something different about this all. Despite Lily's protests, she had found herself drawn almost magnetically to the Marauders. James was like Harry, but without the burdens and memories that he tried to hide. There was an air of mischief that surrounded him that Harry too would possess, but Harry always seemed to have something looming over him, a melancholy shield that was ever-present. Of course, he did have good reason, and Hermione knew that. But meeting James and seeing his absolute carefree demeanor was like a breath of fresh air to her.

In some ways, Remus reminded her a lot of Ron. Of course, he had better control over his temper and Hermione didn't have to worry about him harboring a secret crush on her, and that was nice, but he possessed all the qualities that made Ron such a good friend. On top of that he was extremely intelligent, and would sit down with Hermione and discuss Hogwarts-a History or Arithmacy or anything else she wanted.

Peter was an interesting case. At first Hermione could not stand the sight of him, she resisted the urge to attack him, she was repulsed by him. But the longer she was around him the more she became able to bear him, and could not fight the notion that he was a lot like Neville. Surprisingly, he was very soft spoken and kind. Hermione wondered what it would take to turn such a boy into the monster he would be in the future.

And then there was Sirius...a character all of his own. Hermione grew to sense when he was up to something, he had a horrible poker face and his eyes glimmered the moment he was about to say or do something mischievous. He and James were hardly apart, and as Lily had noted, they fed off each other. Hermione's favorite thing about Sirius was that he always made her laugh, no matter what, whether he was trying to or not.

Above all, Hermione's mind focused on her new redheaded comrade. She never knew how deep a friendship could be before she met Lily. When she went back (which she was constantly assuring herself she would do, eventually), she would miss their bond most of all. It had formed in only one night, but already was stronger than anything she had every experienced. In fact, as the days breezed by Hermione found herself forgetting the future all together.

On one particular lazy fall day, the girls had finished classes and had nothing left to do. They sprawled themselves in the common room, talking the afternoon away. Before Hermione knew it, it was late at night. Lily went to bed and Hermione curled up on a comfy armchair, studying for her next day's classes. She didn't miss the irony that these classes would mean nothing when she went back to the future, but she worked hard anyway.

Just a couple more days, she told herself for the countless time. Eventually her eyelids grew too heavy to read and she dropped her book. She lazily scanned the room for anything of interest that could delay her even further from retiring for the evening. Upon only seeing Remus snoring on a couch and Sirius and Peter arguing about the rules of Exploding Snap in a far corner, she decided to go to bed.

Yawning, Hermione stood up, stretched, and was ready to bid the boys adieu when James emerged from his room. He looked at her, his eyes hinting mischief. "You hungry at all, Hera?" he asked.

"Come to think of it, I am," replied Hermione, trying to avoid his eyes. In the past few days, she had decided that brown was a much better color than green.

"Then let's go to the kitchen," suggested James. Before she could protest, she was dragged out of the Common Room.

"Sorry about that," smiled James once they were in the corridor, "I just didn't want Sirius to see us slip out. He can be so annoying at times, especially around you."

Hermione blushed. Eager to change the subject, she said, "James, should we really be out this late? Any minute we'll get caught, and get points taken from Gryffindor, and probably detention too, and..."

James shot her his trademark lopsided grin and lifted up a cloth he had been holding in his hands. Hermione's eyes lit up. Of course! The Invisibility Cloak! James draped it over her head and ducked in front of her. "Now, let's get some grub!"

As she followed James throughout the corridors, Hermione was warmed with a sense of familiarity. She could not even count how many times she had done this with Harry, and a wave of nostalgia swept over her. But any thoughts of the past disappeared when James cast that endearing grin over her shoulder. She smiled back.

Two hours of rowdy conversation and delicious sweets later, Hermione and James made their way back to the common room, which was now empty. Hermione yawned. "I really should go to bed this time," she said, smiling. "We do have classes to wake up for tomorrow, you know!"

"Yeah," said James, slight disappointment showing on his face. Hermione's stomach started to flip flop again. Much to her dismay, it had been doing so all night, and she seriously doubted it was the Chocolate Frogs they had consumed. "We'll have to do this again."

"Yeah," she softly agreed. "Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight, Hera."

Neither teenager moved. Hermione attempted to leave, but her feet wouldn't obey her mind. She knew that she had to get out of this situation, acknowledging all the danger this small event could cause for the future.

"Goodnight," James said again, still smiling.

"Goodnight," she repeated. Finally he retreated up the stairs to the boys' dorm. Hermione swallowed hard, gazing after him. It was awful. It was terrible. It was so unbelievable she just wanted to forget about it. But she couldn't. Try to ignore it all she wanted, there was no doubt that she had a crush on James Potter!