Fanfiction written for the Jily Meets Harmony Challenge on HMS Harmony Discord

Warning: AU No Voldemort

James/Lily and Harry/Hermione strictly.
James and Lily must be alive. Either by surviving Halloween, coming back to life, or their canon deaths never happening/being avoided. (Can include either Time Travel or a Canon Divergence event)
Sirius should also live and be free/exonerated.
Lily must at some point braid Hermione's hair.
James and Harry must at some point fly together
Harry cannot have a Boy Who Lived (Or Wrong Boy Who Lived) sibling.
No Jily bashing

Luckily I'm in love with my best friend

Hermione Granger loved to spend time with the Potters. In reality, sometimes she felt like she spent more time in the Potter Manor than in her own house, a fact that her mother loved to tease her about.

"Sometimes I feel like you should have a room in their house, seeing how much time you spend there," Emma Granger mocked her daughter, who was preparing a bag to spend the weekend with Harry and his parents.

"You know Lily said the same thing to me," Hermione replied, not even acknowledging her mother. "It's not like Harry never spends some days with us either."

"I know, honey, I just miss you." Emma came closer to Hermione, hugging her and kissing her temple. "Harry's like the son we never had, and I know that Lily feels the same about you."

"I think you're right." Hermione sighed and hugged her mother back. "Harry's coming over next week if it's okay with you and Dad."

"We would love to have Harry for the weekend, and I bet that your father is already planning to take him to a soccer match." Emma laughed at Hermione's face. "So… when do you pretend to say to Harry that you're in love with him?"

"Wh-what? Mum! I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione sputtered, her face redder than a tomato, while her mother just laughed at her reaction. "Is it that obvious that I like him more than just a friend?"

"For me, yes. But it's just because I'm your mother and I know you so well," Emma said, cradling Hermione's face. "Why don't you take advantage of the fact that you're going to spend this weekend together and finally say something to him?"

"I don't know…" Hermione bit her lip, deep in thought. She realized that she didn't have anything to lose — just her friendship if Harry didn't love her back. "I will think about it, Mum, I promise."

"That's all I wanted to hear, honey." Emma kissed Hermione's forehead. "Now, finish your bag, since I have a feeling Harry and Sirius will arrive any minute now."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Hermione knew that Harry and Sirius had arrived to pick her up. She heard her father opening the door and making small talk, while her mother finished helping her pack. Hermione soon rushed down the stairs to find her best friend — and crush of several months. Hermione and Harry hadn't seen each other since the end of their sixth year at Hogwarts two weeks earlier, and Hermione could see that Harry already looked different from the last time she had seen him.

"Mione! You're finally here! I don't think I could've held Harry back for much longer," Sirius joked, coming to hug her. "I missed you, mon cher."

"I missed you too Sirius," Hermione replied, hugging him with all her might. Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, but it didn't mean that he didn't act like a godfather to Hermione, too.

"So you just missed Sirius? I'm hurt, Mi," Harry said, placing his hand on his heart like he was in actual pain. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that always sent Hermione's heart fluttering around in her chest.

"Shut up, Harry, I missed you too," Hermione said, coming to hug him, and she couldn't suppress the little sigh that she felt leaving her.

"Okay, kiddos, you'll have time to catch up when we get to Potter Manor. Let's go before Lily — or Merlin forbid, Prongs — sends a search party after us." Sirius shivered with mock-fear, which made everyone laugh. "You think I'm joking, but James is capable of sending Moony to look for us; he did it once when Harry was a baby."

"So, let's go before Remus comes looking for us." Hermione laughed and said goodbye to her parents before she and Harry grabbed Sirius' hand, and he Apparated both the teenagers to Potter Manor.

Hermione was preparing to go to bed after a big dinner when Lily knocked on her door, smiling when she saw Hermione so at ease in her room.

"Hey, Mione, can I come in?" Lily asked, seeing that she was already in her pyjamas.

"Sure, Lily, it's your house after all." Hermione smiled, coming to sit on her bed and patting the spot next to her. Lily laughed a little and came to sit next to the girl, noticing a brush on her bedside table.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Lily asked, to which Hermione promptly nodded. "Oh, let me brush and braid your hair."

Lily was one of the only people who knew how to properly brush her hair, so Hermione didn't object and just let the firm tugs of the brush on her hair and the skilled fingers of Lily braiding her hair smoothly lull her to an almost sleepy state, which made Hermione almost forget that Lily wanted to talk to her.

"What did you want to talk about, Lily?" Hermione asked, seeing that Lily was almost done with the braid.

"Well…" Lily started, thinking about what to say. "Tomorrow night, we're thinking about having a little family dinner, and I think it would be great if you invited your parents to come."

"I think they would love to come, Lily, this is an amazing idea!" Hermione said, turning around to hug Lily. "Thank you for inviting them!"

"It's no problem at all, sweetie," Lily said, hugging her back. "But there's more to it than just a dinner."

"What else is there?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"Since I just have Harry, who is a horrible cook, I was wondering if you could help me with some dishes? They're all family recipes that I would be more than delighted to share with you... if you want?" Lily asked, seeing Hermione's reaction. She knew that the little witch had a crush on her son, and she also knew that Harry fancied Hermione back, but he was just too shy to say something. So unlike James, she thought with a fond smile.

"I'm honoured that you chose me to share this opportunity with, Lily," Hermione said, feeling the tears prickling in her eyes. "But shouldn't you share this with the girl Harry marries someday? I mean… I'm just his friend.

"Mione, I'm not oblivious — unlike my son. I know that you like him and I know that he likes you back, now it's just a matter of when you two will become a couple." Lily was sporting a grin so wide that Hermione was instantly reminded of the idiom 'cat that ate the canary', and Hermione just stood there gaping like a fish. "So... I'm having an early start in having the families become one. Good night, Mione, sleep well and have nice dreams!"

Lily stood up and went to her room, leaving Hermione alone to gather her thoughts. "I think I'll need to make a move before my mom or Lily do it for me," Hermione thought to herself before sleep came, and the witch was soon dreaming of emerald-green eyes and black hair that she always dreamt of lately

Lily sent the dinner invitation to the Grangers first thing in the morning, and it wasn't a surprise that they accepted her invitation. Hermione was already in the kitchen, helping Lily cook some of the recipes they would be serving that night, like the Chicken Tikka Masala and Sticky Toffee Pudding, while Harry was outside flying with James. Of course, James took Harry flying with him so he could have a talk with his son and learn what his feelings were for Hermione.

"When do you pretend to say anything to Hermione about your feelings towards her?" James asked the moment Harry was preparing to do a manoeuver on his broom, making him stop in midair. "Don't give me that face, I fancied your mother for years, so I know what I'm saying."

"I think you may have taken too many Quaffles to your head, Dad, because you're starting to see things where they don't exist," Harry tried to say nonchalantly, but he felt the blush creeping on his face.

"Oh, really? So you don't fancy 'Mione?" James asked with a knowing smile, to which Harry agreed. "So you don't mind that she's going on a date next Friday?"

Harry just stared at his father, lost for words, and didn't fully understand what his father had just said to him. Hermione hadn't told him anything about a date; they hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks, but they always told each other everything.

"How do you know about her date?" Harry asked, trying not to let his father realize that his claim had affected him.

"When I was passing by the kitchen, she was telling your mother about this bloke she seems smitten with," James said, hiding the fact that the bloke in question was Harry.

Harry didn't say anything and simply resumed his flying, throwing himself into some dangerous manoeuvres, which should have been a sign for James, but he knew it was Harry's way of thinking, so he just glided around on his broom, watching his son trying to gather his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Lily and Hermione were having a lot of fun cooking together, with Hermione learning a few tricks from Lily and learning all about the Evans and Potter family recipes. It looked like they were preparing food for a battalion, but Lily said that Remus was coming too, and since the full moon was almost around the corner, Lily was certain that it wasn't too much food. They were having fun and almost finishing the dessert when the boys came through the kitchen after their flight.

"Hi, sweetie, did you two have fun flying together?" Lily asked, seeing Harry almost storming towards Hermione.

"Yeah, it was fun… listen, Mi, can I talk to you?" Harry asked, almost desperate with need.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just finish this and—" Hermione couldn't finish her statement before Harry was dragging her outside. Lily just raised an eyebrow at James.

"I may or may not have told him that Mione has a date on Friday," James said with a mischievous smile. "If this is what he needed to finally tell that he fancies her, my job here is done."

Lily just smiled at her husband, finishing the dessert, and hoped that the two could finally acknowledge their feelings for each other. She was tired of watching them flit about each other and blush with embarrassment at getting caught making googly eyes at the other. They were worse than James had been with her, and that was saying something; she had hundreds of memories of James spouting off pick-up lines during class, and reciting poetry to her while standing on the Gryffindor table, flying outside her dorm room window with a badly-Transfigured guitar in hand, singing off-key to her, and so on.

Harry decided to bring Hermione to his favorite place in his house: the Quidditch pitch. He was glad that it was such a beautiful night with so many stars, and he decided that it was the perfect moment to confess his feelings for her.

"Mi, I didn't think about what I was going to say because I didn't think I was going to do this today, but after a talk with my dad, I've come to a conclusion," Harry said, without pausing to breathe, and Hermione almost didn't understand what he had said.

"Harry, breathe! What are you trying to say?" Hermione was amused by Harry's distress, even if she didn't understand what prompted him to drag her out of the kitchen in a hurry.

"What I'm trying to say is that I fancy you and I would love to go out on a date with you!" Harry blurted out, missing the way that Hermione blushed, and he mistook her silence for refusal. "It's okay if you don't feel the same, and I know that you're going out with some bloke that you fancy, and—"

Hermione took pity on Harry and interrupted his speech the only way she thought was best: by pressing her lips against his. She had never thought that her best friend was going to return her affection, so listening to him confess to her, it made the moment all the more enjoyable.

She put her hands behind Harry's neck and brought him closer, while he placed his hands awkwardly on her waist. He may not have known how to hold her, but Harry knew that he wanted to kiss her every day for the rest of his life, and he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon.

They were overwhelmed in experiencing each other's mouth so intimately for the first time that they didn't realize James and Lily were watching them from the kitchen door, smiling like lunatics.

"It looks like this casual dinner is turning into a celebration dinner," James said, his arms around Lily's waist.

"That was what I had intended." Lily smiled and kissed her husband's cheek. "Let's go, darling, and leave these two to realize what they had been missing."