Okay, thanks to hgranger, the girl who adored my story {Whoever you are, thanks, you're the reason there's another chapter} and Allycatherm. Hermione obviously likes James, but does he feel the same way? And what about Harry? What would he think of that? Lily will be in the story, but she ain't coming back, at least not yet. Read and Review. Review again if you already did. C'mon, they motivate me!



Chapter #2

{August 10th, 1:00 p.m.}

"Hermione, wake up."

"Huh?"

"You hit your head on a rock when you fell off my back." His voice was heaven to her ears. His hands were moving slowly down her back, massaging her. {No, not that way, ya sick people!} She looked up into his face and smiled weakly.

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" His face was tense with obvious concern.

"'Just a bit dizzy, that's all." She replied, trying to sound casual. James sighed.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked, wondering suddenly why he was concerned about her. It must be his compassion towards females.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." She said, but she swayed in dizziness. James scowled at her.

"You should lie down and rest." He said firmly. Her face was pale and her hair was damp. "But not here. You'll catch a cold." He added, looking around. The water reached up to her chest, and she was shivering. Hermione nodded weakly. Then, with a small sigh, she drifted into unconsciousness, and right into his arms. James picked her up and clambered out of the cove. Looking around, he followed the small stream that flowed out of their hiding place and, half an hour later he came to a likely looking place for some peace. But James was well aware of the task at hand. He had a hard enough time feeding himself, let alone a growing girl. A waterfall cascaded over the cliff that rose up on the far side. The stream ran around and passed a giant apple tree. What luck. A whole tree full of food. James thought happily. Not only that, but that apple tree filled a whole corner of the meadow with a cool, peaceful shade. James set the girl in the shade and quietly transformed. Standing on his hind legs, he plucked three apples from the tree. Then he transformed back, thought about where they could possibly go. They were far from the town where Hermione lived, and that town itself was extremely isolated. It was in the middle of nowhere and they were far from that small little town, so they were even more in the middle of nowhere. He sighed and took off his shirt. The heat was almost too much to bear. The only good thing he could say about the heat was that it would dry off their clothes fast. Already his once sopping pants were almost dry, and Hermiones' clothes were dry already. She was starting to wake up.

"Urgh." She groaned. "Where am I?" She looked around and when she saw James with no shirt on she blushed deeply.

"What?" James asked in amusement when he saw where her gaze was. "Never seen a chest before?" Hermione would have loved to say," Not one that muscular." But she was too shy to say anything. James shook his head.

"Here, have an apple." He muttered, grinning.

"Thanks." She replied, looking around. "Nice place." She added as an afterthought.

"Yeah. You were out of it for about an hour before you started to wake up." James said, munching on a shiny red apple. Hermione picked up an apple and bit into it.

"Mmm." She murmured. The apple was sweet. James looked around.

"We can't live off apples, you know. We need protein." He said quietly.

"Where do you get protein?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Berries." James answered, walking over to a bush and picked of a round, pink berry. He ate it and smiled.

"Is it good?" Hermione asked eagerly. James nodded. Hermione ate the other apple while James snacked on berries. When their stomachs were satisfied with the food the two laid down to rest. They were lying there for two hours when James showed the first sign of sickness. He groaned.

"My stomach hurts." He whispered softly. Hermione looked up.

"Probably eating all those leaves before." She said, smiling.

"Yeah, probably." James muttered. "They never bothered me before though." He added thoughtfully. They glanced t each other and shrugged nonchalantly.

{August 11th, 9:00 p.m.}

"Urgh, my stomach." James groaned. Hermione glanced at him in concern. He was feeling lousy and his stomach was upset. His face was pale with a slight tinge of green.

"James." Hermione said suddenly. "What kind of berries were those? The ones you ate yesterday. What were they?"

"I dunno, but they sure were good." James said weakly. Hermione gasped. "What?" He asked in surprise.

"What if they were poisonous?" Hermione asked in concern. James' face paled even more. {A/N: Who saw that coming? They were poisonous? Oohh!}

"I never thought to check." He whispered. "I was so hungry." Hermione blinked.

"What do we do now?" She asked with a glance at the berry bush. A raspy sound answered. "James? James? JAMES!" He was lying on his side, breathing in shallow, uneven pants. Hermione looked around wildly then, her stomach in a tight knot, she grabbed James around the middle and pushed into his abdomen. She repeated it until a mess of blood and berries flew from his throat. He mumbled something incoherently before passing out. Hermione sighed in relief and glanced around. She picked up his shirt and soaked it in water. Then she pressed it gently against his hot forehead. Before long she too had fallen into her stream of subconscious, dreaming only of him. Neither of them noticed when a slight shimmer of gold filled the clearing in the shape of a woman. She smiled.

"James," she cooed, "You've found someone to love. I'm so happy for you." And with that the ghostly form of Lily Potter vanished, leaving no trace that the two had a visitor.

END OF CHAPTER

Okay, so Lily is happy that James has found someone to love, but will James love Hermione, or will guilt fill his heart? It's a triangle. Oh yeah, if you were wondering why Lily kept showing up in Hermiones' dream, it was because she wanted Hermione to love James, so he would be happy. Well, at least that's clear.