Just Too Tempting

By Avadne

Chapter 8: A Smile

Hermione had been doing a bit of last minute studies in the Library, her sanctuary. She loved the feel of the books, the musty smell, the calm, quiet atmosphere. There were no interruptions... or so Hermione thought. But as she was looking through an overly large volume titled A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions, a favourite of hers ever since she had discovered it in the Room of Requirement in 5th year, someone made it their job to keep Hermione from learning.

That someone was Lily. And Hermione quickly found that she didn't mind the interruption much at all; it was great, getting to know the petite redhead that was Harry's mother. After a few minutes of light-hearted chatter, Hermione was at complete ease with Lily, whom she realized was, in ways, a lot like herself.

"So, you're coming to the match, right?" Lily asked Hermione, who nodded fervently. The first Quidditch match of the season was planned for later that day and Hermione was going to support Gryffindor, including James and Remus, who were members of the team.

"Wouldn't miss it… although I'm tempted to stay here," Hermione replied, smirking at the looks on Ron's or Harry's faces she could imagine, if she would have said no.

"You know, it's nice to meet another girl that knows where the library is… one that's not obsessed with boys and make-up," Lily said softly, looking at Hermione with her emerald eyes.

"Thanks, Lily. I know what you mean; my 2 best friends back home were both guys, so I was always hearing about Quidditch and such… and neither of them were particularly fond of learning either. I've been feeling like an outcast for a long time now…" Hermione trailed off quietly, Harry and Ron's smiling faces coming into view.

"Have you kept in contact?" Lily asked, scooting a little closer to Hermione. Hermione shook her head lightly.

"Not really… it's complicated," Hermione offered lamely, knowing that the excuse didn't even sound plausible to her own ears, let alone Lily's. Lily gave her a searching look, but didn't question the matter further.

"Well, come on, we don't want to miss the match, then… I'm the commentator…," Lily stood up, as did Hermione, dusting herself off and replacing the book.

"Let's go," Hermione said brightly as the two new friends made their way to the Quidditch pitch.

"WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME OF THE SEASON!" Lily yelled happily, acting as commentator, like she had said. Hermione sat with Sirius and Pete while James was in the air as Chaser and Remus with him as Beater for Gryffindor. Today's match was against Ravenclaw and there were perfect Quidditch conditions, as far as Remus was concerned.

James was nowhere near as calm as his friend. He could hear Lily's pre-game chatter and smirked slightly as he remembered how Lily had before used her position as commentator to insult or provoke James, mainly in 5th and 6th year when he started asking her out.

"Ok, team, let's just get out there and do our best," James said tightly to his team. Remus gave him an encouraging grin and hopped onto his broom. James followed in suit and both flew out onto the pitch. The fresh breeze helped clear James's mind and he absentmindedly searched the stands, his eyes falling on Mi. Remus saw this and smirked again; James might not admit it, but Lily was no longer at the top.

"LUPIN, SHACKLEBOLT, MCKINNON AAAAAND POTTER!" Lily had yelled out as Remus followed his fellow Beater and the other Chasers plus James flew out in order. The Ravenclaw team had gotten out before hand. There were claps and cheering from the stands, as well as booing from Slytherin.

"Gryffindor in possesses… oooh, duck that Bludger!" as the crowd quieted down, there was no need for Lily to yell loudly.

McGonagall's shrill whistle pierced the air; apparently, she was the referee in this time. The whistling signaled the obvious foul; one of the Ravenclaw Beaters had bashed his club against the Quaffle in order to get it away from James's fellow Chaser, a future Order member Hermione recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall boy with dark skin and closely cut dark hair.

The game was at a fast pace; James, Kinglsey Shacklebolt and the other Gryffindor Chaser, Meghan McKinnon, were doing great. They almost seemed to read their minds. Remus and his fellow Beater were keeping any dangers away from their team and the Keeper was pretty good, blocking about ¾ of the goals… but the Seeker… well, the small, skinny boy wasn't doing so great.

Just over two and a half hours into the game, Gryffindor was leading by 140 points and there was still no sign of the Snitch. Well, actually there had been; by the Ravenclaw Seeker. But an accurate, powerful hit of Remus's club to a Bludger had stopped the Ravenclaw side from winning. James, Kinglsey and Meghan scored again and the Gryffindors cheered like the Hufflepuffs, who cheered whenever anyone scored. But the Ravenclaws booed, as did the Slytherins; they too booed whenever anyone scored.

Hermione was getting more and more bored by the second. The excitement and eagerness of Lily's commentating had slowed right down to a somewhat dull tone that said the straight facts without any side comments. The cheering had stopped except for a smatter of clapping whenever someone scored. A foul had just been awarded to the Ravenclaws; Hermione missed the reason behind it. But the Gryffindor Keeper successfully blocked and immediately, Meghan McKinnon flew past grabbed the Quaffle; the only thing visible was a flash of golden streaks amongst her black hair. The ball then went to Kingsley, back to Meghan, to James and through the hoop.

And then, the 2 Seekers were both diving head-first into the ground. Everyone stopped, distracted by the sudden chase. It looked like the Gryffindor Seeker was going to win, but the out of no where, a Bludger hit by the Ravenclaw Beater flew out. Both Seekers ducked, just in case. But James, who had the speeding Bludger out of his line of vision, didn't even know it was coming.

CRACK!

The Bludger hit James square in the nose, centre of his face. Blood began spurting out immediately, but not before James lowered himself towards the ground as much as possible before passing out. And Hermione was on her feet and running down before she even realized it.

Coming back from the very eventful game, Hermione was constantly fidgeting and nervous; they knew James had a broken nose and possibly concussion. Ravenclaw's Seeker had caught the Snitch, but Gryffindor had won anyway. The rest of the Marauders, however, seemed completely fine. Even Pete was reasonably still, sitting with Remus and playing Chess.

"How can you just sit there like nothing is wrong?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. Yes, she had been best friends with a Quidditch star since 1st year, but every time Harry got injured, she was always worried sick. Why weren't Pete, Remus or Sirius doing anything? They seemed to be having a fun old time chatting and generally lazing about in the Common Room, not a care in the world.

"Because there is nothing wrong," Remus explained with over-exaggerated patience, looking down on the Chessboard and moving a piece.

"Yeah, Jamie's a tough cookie," Sirius out in. Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"Forget it, Sirius. I won't even try to explain to you what is wrong with your head," Remus said, deadpanned.

"Nah, he's just temporarily meddled after his date with Meghan McKinnon… if you want to call a closet and two people, doing things that couples do a date, that is," Pete explained in his quiet voice, grinning at Sirius, a trace of awe in his watery eyes. Sirius puffed up his chest in mock-pride and laughed.

A few minutes of more pacing and checking her magical watch later, Hermione was sick and tired of this. Looking around hopefully again, in hope of seeing one of the other Marauders be worried or something, she was quickly forming a decision in her mind. But Sirius, Remus nor Pete looked the tiniest bit concerned about their injured friend. Hermione couldn't take this any more.

"You guys, I want to go see James," Hermione announced, standing up. Sirius grinned knowingly and Remus smirked.

"Go ahead, Mi. Say hi to him for us," Pete waved her off, also smiling in that I-know-a-secret way, making another move in the game, one that caused Remus to grin.

"And tell him to hurry up; we have a certain event to plan, in case he's forgotten. Don't worry, you'll know what it is soon enough, Mi," Remus added.

"What, aren't you coming?" Hermione asked, slightly shocked. She thought they would have all jumped at the chance; although once she thought about it, Hermione knew none of them would. As deep as their friendship obviously was, all 3 of the other Marauders seemed almost used to this type of behavior. And observing them before had just confirmed her suspicions.

"Nah, we'll give you some alone time," Remus said, only half-joking. Then he turned back to Pete and said smugly, "Checkmate. Pete, I can't believe I just kicked your ass in 3 moves."

"Neither can I. I'm getting worse and worse; I live to feed your ego, Remus. The only person I can beat now is Sirius, and that's only because the Chess pieces won't obey him after the episode in 6th year when suddenly they all had pink and yellow daises instead of heads…" Pete trailed off, grinning apologetically at Sirius and Remus.

"Good times, Pete. Good times… Oh, and besides, Mi, in 5th year, when James was in the Wing for 5 full days, we made a pact never to spend more time there than necessary. Pomfrey's just being stubborn; James will be fine. But go ahead," Sirius explained, turning back to Pete and Remus. Hermione rolled her eyes and stepped outside of the portrait, heading in the direction of the Hospital Wing to see James.

James was still in the Hospital Wing, sleeping and not looking particularly comfortable or relaxed. Yet somehow, Hermione was completely mesmerized by the scene in front of her; James looked so unprotected, so vulnerable. This was one of the main similarities between Harry and James. Obviously, they looked almost identical. But the other one that stood out to Hermione was that both were boys. Yet their innocence was gone. They were only 17, but had the aura of men.

"Mi? Is that you?" James mumbled. Hermione jumped slightly; she had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that James had woken up.

"Yeah, it is," Hermione whispered, not wanting to startle him. "How are you?"

"I'm better… now that someone is here. Especially you," he replied softly, a smile lighting up his tired face. Suddenly, it stuck Hermione how much she loved that smile, how much she loved it on Harry and how much she loved it on James. Smiling made James beautiful, in Hermione's opinion. No doubt, he was good-looking already; not too tall, with smooth, papery white skin, spiky, messy hair of raven black and beautiful, golden hazel eyes that had no end. But James's blank, emotionless façade, his face without a smile, was just downright wrong. It was his flaw; James was one of those people that always should have his emotions on display. And he should. He shouldn't keep his face, his eyes empty. Smiling made him beautiful, like that infectious grin that could light up a room.

When he smiled, the world would unfreeze. A single smile from him was enough for anything. Not a smirk, a grimace or even a forced grin. But a real smile. A smile that was sincere, one that conveyed a thousand words. Like one of his pointed looks, smirks or scowls, one of his smiles held such meaning that there was absolutely no need for words at all.

When James smiled, he was a boy again. The boy he should be, at 17. Not the man that had taken the boys place too soon and at an early age. His innocence came back. Love returned. Care, happiness and feeling all came back. So much was reflected in a single smile from James Potter. The same was with Harry, if not worse. Harry was a man a long time ago; Hermione got the feeling James had only become one last year or so. But it came down to the same thing; she loved when Harry smiled. But when James smiled… it was something else.

"How are you?" James's quiet voice had broken her out of her little daydream about James's smile.

"Well, worried for one," she replied honestly. James smiled again and Hermione felt herself copy the movement.

"Don't worry; I'll be out of here in no time. Pomfrey fixed my nose in a second and the concussion is gone. But since I am here, why not take advantage… in other words, do me a favour and don't tell me what I've missed in lessons," James said with an impish grin.

"Well, if you insist. But I have to get going; Sirius, Pete and Remus all say hi too… oh and Remus says to 'hurry up, there is a certain event to plan', which, I'll assume you know what he's on about. Now, you better get well soon or else…" Hermione mock threatened. James nodded solemnly and shifted his position so that he was lying down again.

"Thanks… yeah, I know what Remus means. I'll be ready and you're in for a treat. Good thing everyone knows when and where… but thanks again and bye," he whispered, suddenly looking very tired. Hermione nodded to him and James's head fell back against the pillow, his eyes drooping closed. Although she wanted dearly to ask what this event was, the one that everyone knew when and where Hermione stayed quiet and backed out of the room partly to give James peace. But was yet again mesmerized by the sleeping James and stopped at the door for a few seconds.

Shaking herself out of these thoughts, Hermione left quickly. And for the first time since she and Draco got here, Hermione thought about how their own actions were really affecting other people; not just them and not just Harry or Ron or their future. But how they were affecting Sirius, Remus or Pete, or even Lily. And especially James.

End chapter 8

If you think that Sirius, Remus and Pete are bad friends, then no, they're not… well, maybe Pete. But trust me, they are so used to an injured James. They're used to an injured Remus too, thanks to the werewolf thing. And I imagine they are used to injured Pete, because I see him as a bit of a klutz. Finally, I think they see injured Sirius a lot… because as liked as he is, he's got to have a lot of enemies. Like all those girls with broken hearts! So, no, they are good friends; this was just to give Hermione some time with James.

Oh and I have no idea whether it's possible to win a Chess game in 3 moves. Not much of a Chess player…

Canadian Coco Chick
Well in my opinion, you get a cookie too. I hate mushy Draco stories where he fully changes… so I'm trying to keep him in character. There is some very light romance for him, but the story does it's main focus on Hermione. Anyway thank you for reviewing!

Nissy Padfoot
Draco & Hermione... yes, they've become good friends. They had to, really. And as for Draco, he won't be suffering forever! I'm not big on fluff, but I did sort of try here. I hope you like it! I completely agree with you... my little wookie pookie is so taking it too far! Drama and wrongs make it a real life after all. Anyway thanks very much

Gwynn-Potter
You need more, do you? Well I hope I've posted this quickly enough so that you can quench the need, even for a little while. Thanks

Marauder-Magick33
Well thank you very much! Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging... yes, someone else has recommended that to me. It sounds gunny. Anyway, Draco rocks, he doesn't need me to make him better! And as for Hermione... well, all I'm going to reveal is that Harry will still be born. But not necessarily in the same circumstances. Thanks again

Kris-tina4
You're welcome for my little review. I've been meaning to do some more reading for a while, but I have limited access to the internet. Well thank you for reviewing, Annie is here as she always is when I'm updating and is laughing her head off at your remark. It's sort of entertaining… sort of. Good luck

Kali Ceannai
Thank you. I think that 2000 words per chapter seems reasonable… I try being unique. It's harder than it sounds, though! I hate the broken time turner cliché method of getting back to time. Besides, Draco's just too cool not to bring along. LoL I do think that Snape would have the billowing robes look down from an early age. As for Bill not being canon; yes, I know. I didn't bother working all that out myself, I just went to the HP Lexicon. I think it looked there as though Bill would be a first year when the Marauders are seventh, but I don't really care. He''s fun to play around with anyway. Thanks a lot for all your reviews!

Silwen Aurdomiel
Yes, the talk between Draco and Hermione was fun… we don't really see a whole lot of it, do we? Well, thank you very much for reviewing and encouraging me.

Avadne