Chapter 3: Awkward Chats

At Dinner

"So, your boyfriend James, I get the feeling he doesn't like me very much," Harry told Lily.

"That's not true!" Lily said immediately. "Why don't you try talking to him? He's wonderful once you get to know him, really. You see, I didn't used to like him much either. Just start up a conversation. I promise, he'll fascinate you when you least expect it."

"What should I talk to him about?" Harry asked.

"Hmmm... let's see, do you like Quidditch?" she questioned.

"Yeah I love it," he replied.

"Perfect! James loves Quidditch too, talk to him about that," Lily suggested.

Of course, Quidditch, why didn't I think of that? he wondered. "Great idea, thanks," Harry said.

"No problem," Lily replied. "He went back to the common room."

"Thanks, I'll see you later."

"Bye." With that, Harry headed to the Gryffindor common room. This is your dad, don't be nervous, he continuously told himself. He went through the portrait hole and saw his dad sitting on the sofa working on a paper.

"Hi James," Harry greeted. James looked up from his work and saw Harry.

"Oh, hi," James mumbled as he looked back down and continued working on his paper.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"An essay for Potions," James replied. His eyes remained glued to the paper.

"But it's not due for two weeks," Harry said.

"I know, I'm finishing it early."

"Oh," Harry said dumbly. Merlin, he is really making this hard on me, he thought. "So James, you play Quidditch right?"

"Yes," James said softly.

"What position do you play?"

"Chaser," he murmured.

"That's cool. I play seeker," Harry said.

James only grunted in reply.

"So how is the Gryffindor team, do you guys win a lot?" Harry was getting pretty desperate at this point.

"Look, Parsons, I don't mean to be rude but why do you keep bothering me?" James asked, clearly annoyed.

"What? I was just trying to talk to you," Harry said hurt.

"Well why don't you go talk to Evans? You two are best friends now right?" James said. He was very angry now.

"But, I was just---"

"I don't care okay? Just leave me alone," James said.

Harry was close to tears now. Without another word, he left.

Outside By the Lake

Did I just kiss Sirius? Oh Merlin, I did. What's wrong with me? Can't I control myself? I need to leave now, she thought frantically.

"I have to go," Hermione said standing up.

"But we just got here," Sirius said confused.

"I gotta go," she repeated. She started to run away.

"Wait Hermione!" she heard Sirius call but she didn't turn around. She ran as fast as she could and didn't stop until she got to the castle. She went into the Great Hall in search for Harry. She saw Remus, Peter, and Lily at the dinner table, but no one else.

"Have you guys seen Harry?" she asked as she passed the table.

"Yeah, he went to the common room, he was going to talk to James," Lily explained.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she turned around.

"Wait, don't you want something to eat? You really should eat some dinner," Lily said.

Wow, she would have been a great mother if she would have had a chance, she has all those motherly instincts, Hermione thought.

"No thanks Lily, I'm fine really," Hermione reassured her.

"Okay if you're sure," Lily said a little worried. Hermione ran up to the common room and was disappointed when she saw James was by himself.

"Was Harry here?" she asked.

"Yeah he left," James replied.

"Where did he go?" Hermione questioned. James just shrugged. Hermione turned around and left. Where could he be? I really need to talk to him about what happened. Quiddich field maybe? No, he doesn't have a broom. Library? No way! Room of Requirement possibly? Yes, it's possible... she thought.

She raced over to the Room of Requirement and glanced around her to make sure no one was watching before entering. She opened the door and quickly went in. The room was completely empty except for Harry who was sitting in the back of the room, leaning against the wall, his head in his hands.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worried. Harry looked up. He wasn't crying, but he looked miserable none the less.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"Lucky guess," she replied sitting down next to him.

"Do you wanna hear something?" he asked her. She nodded. "My whole life... I've always wondered... if my parents knew me, what would they think of me? Would they be proud? Would the love me? And now I know..." he trailed off.

"You know what?" Hermione asked.

"That my dad hates me," Harry replied.

"He doesn't hate you," she said soothingly.

"Yes he does. He hates me. And Sirius doesn't like me either. Do you know what that means?" he questioned.

"What?"

"It means Sirius never really liked me or cared about me. He only liked me because I was his best friend's son. Nothing more."

"Harry, you know that's not true," Hermione said.

"Do I?" Harry asked her seriously.

Tears were now filling Hermione's eyes. "Harry, if they knew---" she began but Harry cut her off.

"If they knew what? If they knew I was James's son then they would like me? Why because they had to?"

"No that's not what I was going to say," she said sadly.

"Look Hermione, it doesn't matter. We're only going to be here for a couple more months and then we can forget this all happened," Harry said.

"What about Lily? Lily likes you," Hermione said. She was getting desperate.

Harry laughed slightly. "Hermione, Lily is one of the friendliest people I have ever met in my life. She likes everybody."

Hermione didn't know what to say. So, she said the only thing she could think of. "I like you Harry. Ron likes you. Don't we count?"

Harry's head snapped up and he made eye contact with her. "Of course you count. I don't know what I would do without you two."

Hermione had been planning to tell Harry about the kiss, but now there was no way she could. Not after all that had happened.

"Come on let's go," she said offering her hand. He took it and they left.

In the Common Room

The portrait hold flew open and Sirius came in, looking out of breath. "Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, upstairs now, I have to tell you something," Sirius said.

"What is it?" James asked.

"I'll tell you once we get upstairs," Sirius responded. James set his stuff down and the Marauders followed Sirius to the boy's dormitory. When they got there, Sirius looked around making sure no one else was there. "Okay, look. I was coming inside looking around for Hermione---"

Peter cut him off. "Why were you looking for Hermione?" he asked.

"It's not important, just listen. So I was looking for Hermione. And I saw her standing near the Room of Requirement. I was going to go talk to her, but then I saw her look around her like she was making sure no one was there. So I hid around the corner really quick. And I saw her go inside the Room of Requirement. Now my question is, how the hell did she know about it? I tried to listen but I couldn't really hear anything, I could only hear some voices. And the other was Harry, I'm sure of it. So they both knew about the room. And it wasn't like they were exploring and they found it. It was like they had been there before."

"So what are you saying?" James asked.

"What I'm saying Prongs, is that they've both been to this school before. They're not new."