Chapter Ten: Magnetism
James ran a hand through his reckless hair, staring warily up the stairs to the sixth year Gryffindor girl's dormitories for the countless time. Things were looking bleak-she hadn't even responded to his pleas. As his efforts to coax her out of her room continuously failed, James was tempted to just go up there and burst in. But people had been coming in and out of the common room all night, and he didn't want to cause any more problems. "Hera," he yelled, "would ya just come down and talk?"
Hermione leaned against the door at the sound of James's voice, but remained silent. He sounded so concerned. All she wanted to do was run down to the common room and hug him, assuring him that everything was all right. But she couldn't. It would just complicate matters even more.
It was bad enough that her Time Turner was probably gone forever. She would never see her family or friends again. If it was just that, Hermione might eventually be able to get over it. She had Lily and the Marauders to fill the voids. But this was much more problematical. Lily's words echoed through her head: "Now I certainly won't ever do anything to get in your way!"
What had she done? Her feelings for James would end in devastation for all. She cursed herself for ever changing the settings of the Time Turner. If she had just left things the way they were, she would be back in her own time with Ron and Harry.
Harry. She still loved him. Perhaps that was the reason she loved James- they were so much alike. But, as she had come to realize from the first days living in the past, every area that Harry was lacking, James fulfilled. He was altogether perfect. And even worse, Hermione was almost positive that he returned her feelings.
Hermione sighed again. Under any other condition it would be the perfect relationship, and she would be so happy. But she had to make sure that this didn't get serious. If James already had feelings for her, she would have to find someway to reroute them to Lily. And to do so, she had to face James first. With a final sigh of resolve, she started down the stairs.
James watched Hermione descending from her dormitory, a weak smile on her face. Finally, he thought. She stopped at the bottom the stairwell, just looking at him. He took a deep breath and did the only thing he could think of: walk up to her and take her into his arms.
Hermione tensed at first, this was not at all what should be happening. But she couldn't resist breaking down in his arms. She sobbed uncontrollably, releasing all her sorrows into James's chest where her head was buried. He held her tight, resting his head on her hair and breathing in her scent. He never wanted to let go. All these feelings he was experiencing at once were completely new to him. It was then that it dawned on him that he would die for this girl's happiness.
They stood there for a long time, in the middle of the common room, oblivious to the other students' glances as they traveled in and out. They didn't even notice Lily slipping in after her detention, giving them a knowing smile before she hurried up to the dorm. All time was lost and no words were needed as James held Hermione. After what had seemed like an eternity, their moment was interrupted by a loud growl from Hermione's stomach.
Hermione looked up and gave James a small smile. "I'm hungry," she said.
James laughed good-naturedly, saying, "I noticed. We'll just have to do something about it. To the kitchen!"
"Alright," said Hermione, rubbing her eyes, "but we'll need your invisibility cloak again. I'm not sure what time it is, but I bet it's way past curfew.
A nervous look appeared on James face. "I...errr...I don't have it."
Hermione cocked her head, "Where is it?"
"I lent it to Sirius, Lupin, and Peter," he said.
"Oh, them!" Hermione exclaimed, "I forgot all about them! Where are they, anyway?"
James looked nervous again. Hermione shot him another confused look before catching a view of the full moon from a window on the opposite side of the common room. She immediately understood.
"Who ever knows where they are, eh?" she smiled. "So how are we going to get food without the cloak?"
"Easy," said James, greatly relieved that she changed the subject. "We just don't run into anyone on our way to the kitchen."
"James!" said Hermione, placing her hands on her hips. "However are we going to that?"
He grinned. "Wait here, I'll be right back."
Hermione watched him run into his room with a smile. She sighed, this time not a desperate sigh, but a happy one. All thoughts of consequences had left her mind, the only thing she could think of was James. She sunk euphorically into an armchair to await his return.
In a matter of minutes James returned to the room, lopsided smile and all. He held up a piece of parchment. "I present to you," he said officially, "The Marauder's Map."
Hermione gasped, quickly rising to her feet.
"Wait," James said, confused by her odd behavior. "You haven't seen the best of it yet. I all but forgot about this with all the things going on, in fact we haven't used it at all since you came." He placed his wand on the map. "I solemnly swear..." he began.
Hermione hurriedly grabbed the map. "What are you doing?" James asked, not sure what to make of her conduct. Hermione scanned the room for a place to go. She needed to get the map out of James's sight before he opened it...and saw her real name! There were bound to be so many questions that she was in no mood to answer.
Her eyes finally dwelled on the public girl's lavatory in the common room. Running inside and locking the door behind her, she observed the map. What was she to do now?
"Hera!" James was pounding on the door. "What in the bloody hell are you doing?"
Hermione nervously chewed her lip as she drew her wand and placed it on the paper in the same fashion James had done seconds earlier. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she whispered.
As the map appeared, she scanned it for the Gryffindor common room, then the girl's lavatory, then the words "Hermione Granger." She took a deep breath in desperation. She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. She also couldn't destroy the map- James would be furious! And it would greatly change the future, too.
Her mind raced, trying to think of a possible solution. "Of course!" she said aloud, softening her voice when she realized that James was probably listening. "I'm top of my class," she said beneath her breath as she picked up her wand, "there's no spell I can't do, so I'm sure I can outsmart the Marauders!" They had, after all, been the ones who bewitched the map. Her mind raced, finally settling on a spell that just might work. Praying that it would be successful, Hermione placed her wand on the name "Hermione Granger," and muttered "Nombre Cambius!" Instantly the words blurred, then came back into clarity, this time reading, "Hera Ranger."
"Perfect!" she said, just as James Potter came bursting into the room.
He blushed at the realization that he was in the girl's lavatory. "I...ummm..." he stuttered, "I was just checking up on you...you know...to see if you're all right or whatever. You took off rather fast."
Hermione grinned, shoving the map into his hands. "I just wanted to look at this," she said.
James observed her like she was crazy before he shifted his eyes to the map. His face lit up. "Oh wow, you found out how to open it," James slipped Hermione a wink. "That's impressive."
It was Hermione's turn to blush. "Well, will you show me how it works?" she asked. She couldn't let on that she already knew everything about the map, it could cause more problems.
"Sure" said James with a smile, "as long as we can go somewhere other than the girls' bathroom."
Hermione giggled. "If you insist." They walked into the common room and upon sitting on a couch, James began a long monologue on the making and functions of the Marauder's Map. Hermione had to struggle to appear attentive, her eyelids were heavy and she couldn't keep her mind focused. After what seemed like hours, James concluded.
"And that," he said with a triumphant grin, "is how Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and I- Prongs- became the greatest sneaks in Hogwart's history."
Hermione couldn't resist. She leaned in and, even though she knew the answer full well, asked, "Where did you get those names, any way?"
James looked like a deer caught in headlights (no pun intended). He shifted nervously, muttered some excuse that Hermione couldn't quite make out, and then jumped to his feet. "Let's go before we get any hungrier," he said hastily, stepping out of the portrait hole. Hermione followed.
Once in the corridor, James grabbed her hand, and Hermione did not resist. It just felt so right. Using the map to dodge professors, prefects, Pringle, and Peeves; they made their way to the fruit painting-the exact same entrance that would be used in twenty years. The teenagers greeted the house elves, and accepted their hospitality.
Once settled in the kitchen, they sat side-by-side on a bench in the corner and commenced to talk. James was loud and boisterous; cracking jokes and telling about the wild adventures he had with his friends. Hermione didn't want to tell him much personal information (for fear of future results) so she talked mainly about her ideas for the magical community. She was laughing out loud at a something James had said as she polished off her bowl of ice cream. "So," James said, leaning closer to her. "Tell me more about this house elf liberation idea you have."
"Oh, I don't want to go into it any more," she said, waving her hand. "I kind of abandoned it when no one else was interested. Harry and Ron were of no support whatsoever."
"Harry and Ron?" James asked.
Hermione silently reprimanded herself for letting some personal information slide, and said off-handedly, "Oh, my friends from back home."
"Really?" asked James, looking at her intently. "Back home in India?"
"Yeah, India." Hermione reached for a glass of water.
James's eyebrow raised, "You know, you don't look Indian to me."
With a nervous laugh, Hermione shrugged. "I'm originally from England, silly."
"So you attended school in India?"
She nodded. "Yeah...I mean no! I mean, I was home schooled so I guess you could technically say school." Hermione wondered how much Dumbledore had told James about "Hera Ranger's" life.
"So how did you know...what were their names? Harry and Ron?"
"Yeah," Hermione wanted to change the subject, she didn't like how James was grilling her. "We were, err, and neighbors. We hung out a lot. Actually, we three spent most of our time together." She sighed. "We were pretty inseparable," she added reminiscently.
"I bet you had a lot of adventures," James smiled. "I read that there's lots of elephants in India. Did you guys ever go off riding elephants?"
Hermione laughed. "No, but we rode a hippogriff once!" The memory brought back so many feelings. "Man, I miss them a lot."
James looked at her, his eyebrow rising. "So these guys...you said they were friends?"
"Friends," Hermione quickly replied. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"Good," as soon as the word escaped his mouth, he turned bright red.
Hermione chuckled, observing James. His hair was unruly and in desperate need of a trim, his glasses sat crooked on his nose (which she just now noticed was a bit longer than Harry's), and his usual wide silly smile occupied the whole bottom half of his face. He was the most gorgeous thing she had ever set her eyes on.
James noticed her scrutiny and turned even redder, if it was possible. Taking a deep breath as if it would raise his confidence, he slipped over so he was sitting right next to her. Taking her hand in his, he looked straight at her. Hermione gazed into his blue eyes, feeling extremely vulnerable but all the same trusting James with her every emotion. "Hera," he said in a barely audible voice. "You are truly amazing."
Hermione saw it coming. He closed his eyes and began to lean in; holding her hand tighter while his other arm went to the back of her neck. She had every opportunity to resist his advance, to jump up and make some lame excuse, or to tell him that she did not feel the same. But she didn't. All reason, all worries about the future flew out the window as she inclined her body towards his, and their lips met.
James ran a hand through his reckless hair, staring warily up the stairs to the sixth year Gryffindor girl's dormitories for the countless time. Things were looking bleak-she hadn't even responded to his pleas. As his efforts to coax her out of her room continuously failed, James was tempted to just go up there and burst in. But people had been coming in and out of the common room all night, and he didn't want to cause any more problems. "Hera," he yelled, "would ya just come down and talk?"
Hermione leaned against the door at the sound of James's voice, but remained silent. He sounded so concerned. All she wanted to do was run down to the common room and hug him, assuring him that everything was all right. But she couldn't. It would just complicate matters even more.
It was bad enough that her Time Turner was probably gone forever. She would never see her family or friends again. If it was just that, Hermione might eventually be able to get over it. She had Lily and the Marauders to fill the voids. But this was much more problematical. Lily's words echoed through her head: "Now I certainly won't ever do anything to get in your way!"
What had she done? Her feelings for James would end in devastation for all. She cursed herself for ever changing the settings of the Time Turner. If she had just left things the way they were, she would be back in her own time with Ron and Harry.
Harry. She still loved him. Perhaps that was the reason she loved James- they were so much alike. But, as she had come to realize from the first days living in the past, every area that Harry was lacking, James fulfilled. He was altogether perfect. And even worse, Hermione was almost positive that he returned her feelings.
Hermione sighed again. Under any other condition it would be the perfect relationship, and she would be so happy. But she had to make sure that this didn't get serious. If James already had feelings for her, she would have to find someway to reroute them to Lily. And to do so, she had to face James first. With a final sigh of resolve, she started down the stairs.
James watched Hermione descending from her dormitory, a weak smile on her face. Finally, he thought. She stopped at the bottom the stairwell, just looking at him. He took a deep breath and did the only thing he could think of: walk up to her and take her into his arms.
Hermione tensed at first, this was not at all what should be happening. But she couldn't resist breaking down in his arms. She sobbed uncontrollably, releasing all her sorrows into James's chest where her head was buried. He held her tight, resting his head on her hair and breathing in her scent. He never wanted to let go. All these feelings he was experiencing at once were completely new to him. It was then that it dawned on him that he would die for this girl's happiness.
They stood there for a long time, in the middle of the common room, oblivious to the other students' glances as they traveled in and out. They didn't even notice Lily slipping in after her detention, giving them a knowing smile before she hurried up to the dorm. All time was lost and no words were needed as James held Hermione. After what had seemed like an eternity, their moment was interrupted by a loud growl from Hermione's stomach.
Hermione looked up and gave James a small smile. "I'm hungry," she said.
James laughed good-naturedly, saying, "I noticed. We'll just have to do something about it. To the kitchen!"
"Alright," said Hermione, rubbing her eyes, "but we'll need your invisibility cloak again. I'm not sure what time it is, but I bet it's way past curfew.
A nervous look appeared on James face. "I...errr...I don't have it."
Hermione cocked her head, "Where is it?"
"I lent it to Sirius, Lupin, and Peter," he said.
"Oh, them!" Hermione exclaimed, "I forgot all about them! Where are they, anyway?"
James looked nervous again. Hermione shot him another confused look before catching a view of the full moon from a window on the opposite side of the common room. She immediately understood.
"Who ever knows where they are, eh?" she smiled. "So how are we going to get food without the cloak?"
"Easy," said James, greatly relieved that she changed the subject. "We just don't run into anyone on our way to the kitchen."
"James!" said Hermione, placing her hands on her hips. "However are we going to that?"
He grinned. "Wait here, I'll be right back."
Hermione watched him run into his room with a smile. She sighed, this time not a desperate sigh, but a happy one. All thoughts of consequences had left her mind, the only thing she could think of was James. She sunk euphorically into an armchair to await his return.
In a matter of minutes James returned to the room, lopsided smile and all. He held up a piece of parchment. "I present to you," he said officially, "The Marauder's Map."
Hermione gasped, quickly rising to her feet.
"Wait," James said, confused by her odd behavior. "You haven't seen the best of it yet. I all but forgot about this with all the things going on, in fact we haven't used it at all since you came." He placed his wand on the map. "I solemnly swear..." he began.
Hermione hurriedly grabbed the map. "What are you doing?" James asked, not sure what to make of her conduct. Hermione scanned the room for a place to go. She needed to get the map out of James's sight before he opened it...and saw her real name! There were bound to be so many questions that she was in no mood to answer.
Her eyes finally dwelled on the public girl's lavatory in the common room. Running inside and locking the door behind her, she observed the map. What was she to do now?
"Hera!" James was pounding on the door. "What in the bloody hell are you doing?"
Hermione nervously chewed her lip as she drew her wand and placed it on the paper in the same fashion James had done seconds earlier. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she whispered.
As the map appeared, she scanned it for the Gryffindor common room, then the girl's lavatory, then the words "Hermione Granger." She took a deep breath in desperation. She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. She also couldn't destroy the map- James would be furious! And it would greatly change the future, too.
Her mind raced, trying to think of a possible solution. "Of course!" she said aloud, softening her voice when she realized that James was probably listening. "I'm top of my class," she said beneath her breath as she picked up her wand, "there's no spell I can't do, so I'm sure I can outsmart the Marauders!" They had, after all, been the ones who bewitched the map. Her mind raced, finally settling on a spell that just might work. Praying that it would be successful, Hermione placed her wand on the name "Hermione Granger," and muttered "Nombre Cambius!" Instantly the words blurred, then came back into clarity, this time reading, "Hera Ranger."
"Perfect!" she said, just as James Potter came bursting into the room.
He blushed at the realization that he was in the girl's lavatory. "I...ummm..." he stuttered, "I was just checking up on you...you know...to see if you're all right or whatever. You took off rather fast."
Hermione grinned, shoving the map into his hands. "I just wanted to look at this," she said.
James observed her like she was crazy before he shifted his eyes to the map. His face lit up. "Oh wow, you found out how to open it," James slipped Hermione a wink. "That's impressive."
It was Hermione's turn to blush. "Well, will you show me how it works?" she asked. She couldn't let on that she already knew everything about the map, it could cause more problems.
"Sure" said James with a smile, "as long as we can go somewhere other than the girls' bathroom."
Hermione giggled. "If you insist." They walked into the common room and upon sitting on a couch, James began a long monologue on the making and functions of the Marauder's Map. Hermione had to struggle to appear attentive, her eyelids were heavy and she couldn't keep her mind focused. After what seemed like hours, James concluded.
"And that," he said with a triumphant grin, "is how Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and I- Prongs- became the greatest sneaks in Hogwart's history."
Hermione couldn't resist. She leaned in and, even though she knew the answer full well, asked, "Where did you get those names, any way?"
James looked like a deer caught in headlights (no pun intended). He shifted nervously, muttered some excuse that Hermione couldn't quite make out, and then jumped to his feet. "Let's go before we get any hungrier," he said hastily, stepping out of the portrait hole. Hermione followed.
Once in the corridor, James grabbed her hand, and Hermione did not resist. It just felt so right. Using the map to dodge professors, prefects, Pringle, and Peeves; they made their way to the fruit painting-the exact same entrance that would be used in twenty years. The teenagers greeted the house elves, and accepted their hospitality.
Once settled in the kitchen, they sat side-by-side on a bench in the corner and commenced to talk. James was loud and boisterous; cracking jokes and telling about the wild adventures he had with his friends. Hermione didn't want to tell him much personal information (for fear of future results) so she talked mainly about her ideas for the magical community. She was laughing out loud at a something James had said as she polished off her bowl of ice cream. "So," James said, leaning closer to her. "Tell me more about this house elf liberation idea you have."
"Oh, I don't want to go into it any more," she said, waving her hand. "I kind of abandoned it when no one else was interested. Harry and Ron were of no support whatsoever."
"Harry and Ron?" James asked.
Hermione silently reprimanded herself for letting some personal information slide, and said off-handedly, "Oh, my friends from back home."
"Really?" asked James, looking at her intently. "Back home in India?"
"Yeah, India." Hermione reached for a glass of water.
James's eyebrow raised, "You know, you don't look Indian to me."
With a nervous laugh, Hermione shrugged. "I'm originally from England, silly."
"So you attended school in India?"
She nodded. "Yeah...I mean no! I mean, I was home schooled so I guess you could technically say school." Hermione wondered how much Dumbledore had told James about "Hera Ranger's" life.
"So how did you know...what were their names? Harry and Ron?"
"Yeah," Hermione wanted to change the subject, she didn't like how James was grilling her. "We were, err, and neighbors. We hung out a lot. Actually, we three spent most of our time together." She sighed. "We were pretty inseparable," she added reminiscently.
"I bet you had a lot of adventures," James smiled. "I read that there's lots of elephants in India. Did you guys ever go off riding elephants?"
Hermione laughed. "No, but we rode a hippogriff once!" The memory brought back so many feelings. "Man, I miss them a lot."
James looked at her, his eyebrow rising. "So these guys...you said they were friends?"
"Friends," Hermione quickly replied. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"Good," as soon as the word escaped his mouth, he turned bright red.
Hermione chuckled, observing James. His hair was unruly and in desperate need of a trim, his glasses sat crooked on his nose (which she just now noticed was a bit longer than Harry's), and his usual wide silly smile occupied the whole bottom half of his face. He was the most gorgeous thing she had ever set her eyes on.
James noticed her scrutiny and turned even redder, if it was possible. Taking a deep breath as if it would raise his confidence, he slipped over so he was sitting right next to her. Taking her hand in his, he looked straight at her. Hermione gazed into his blue eyes, feeling extremely vulnerable but all the same trusting James with her every emotion. "Hera," he said in a barely audible voice. "You are truly amazing."
Hermione saw it coming. He closed his eyes and began to lean in; holding her hand tighter while his other arm went to the back of her neck. She had every opportunity to resist his advance, to jump up and make some lame excuse, or to tell him that she did not feel the same. But she didn't. All reason, all worries about the future flew out the window as she inclined her body towards his, and their lips met.