A/N: Thank you for all the love and support! Special thanks to my Beta, lozipozivanillabean. Enjoy!

Also, for the umpteenth time, this story is a slow burn – romance and plot-wise. Sorry if I make y'all super frustrated, but Hermione's been through a lot. I'm not even sure if I should be saying this hahaha but, the Hermione in this story went through an unending war, planned to run away with her best friend she'd stuck with since she was eleven, but when she finally had another shot in life, she's alone. Of course she'd hesitate a lot because she's very sad and very tired. Ahahahah I'm so sorry I really just need to say this. Things will get better. I promise!

xxv.

fall in love in a single touch

(Touch by Sleeping at Last)

November 9, 1977

She was the first one to arrive at the Astronomy Tower this time.

Hermione transformed back into her human form and silently strode towards the railing. Blessedly, it was dark, for Hermione could not see the ground clearly from where she stood. Normally, she would have balked at the thought of staring down at such a great height, but darkness protectively blanketed the grounds, giving Hermione a sense of safety.

Her blue eyes drifted towards the inky, night sky, the crescent moon hanging peacefully amongst the twinkling stars. She quirked a small smile upon spying the constellation Cassiopeia, her hand unwittingly touching the freckles on her face that shared the same image. Peter used to connect her freckles into ridiculous shapes using markers when they were younger, which always got him into trouble. He loved to draw Cassiopeia though - told her it suited her pale face, and Hermione would release a small bit of her accidental magic, just to get back at her brother.

"Pettigrew."

She quickly swivelled around and saw Regulus coolly standing near the threshold of the Tower. Hermione silently observed him, noting that compared to the last time they had spoken here, Regulus looked calmer and more relaxed today.

"Hello," she said, pushing herself off the railing to saunter towards the Slytherin.

"Let's cut the pleasantries and get on with the matter at hand," he lightly snapped, striding towards Hermione to shorten the distance between them.

Hermione looked at him bemusedly, surprised at his sudden energy.

"What do you mean by five horcruxes," he harshly asked.

"No 'Hello, Hermione. How was your day'?"

Regulus made a face and pulled out his wand. "I said no pleasantries," he reiterated as he absentmindedly transfigured two armchairs for them to sit on. "So. Five horcruxes."

Hermione sighed and plopped down on one of the chairs. She pulled out her wand and shot a series of spells towards the door, just in case they needed to be alerted to approaching professors or caretakers. The Marauder's Map was hidden inside her pockets too, but so far, no authorities were venturing towards the Tower.

"So, like I said, Voldemort made five horcruxes," she then said, rummaging inside her pocket to pull out a parchment, an ink well, and her turkey quill.

"How much can you fit in your pockets?" Regulus asked with wide, amused eyes.

"Enough," Hermione distractedly said. She then proceeded to jot down notes on her parchment, aware that Regulus was hovering near her, trying to make out the words she was writing.

Once she was done, she pushed the parchment in his direction and pointed at the list. "These are the possible horcruxes he's already made to keep himself immortal. There's Ravenclaw's Diadem" – "What? But that's been lost for like ages?" – "his diary" – "The Dark Lord kept a diary?" – "Hufflepuff's Cup and Slytherin's Locket" – "Well now he's just desecrating treasures" – "And lastly a ring, a family heirloom. And, Merlin, can you keep the side comments to a minimum!"

Regulus blinked at Hermione in surprise, before quirking an eyebrow in amusement. "Right, of course. Apologies," he haughtily said.

Hermione sighed and gestured at the parchment. "If we want to destroy Voldemort, we have to collect all of these before he starts making more," she insisted.

"He plans to make more?" Regulus paled considerably, warily glaring at the parchment in her hands.

"You have no idea," she murmured under her breath, smoothing down the edges of the parchment in slight worry. "Procuring the horcruxes may be easier said than done, but I have an idea about where they're hidden. Destroying them, on the other hand, well that's an entirely different story."

Hermione made a face and wondered about the dormant basilisk sleeping at the base of this beloved school. Fiendfyre was out of the question because she knew she could never control it, unless she asked for help from powerful wizards. Like Dumbledore. But Hermione didn't want to get involved with Dumbledore yet. She still somewhat blamed him for their lack of preparedness before. If only he'd have divulged a fraction of what they had discovered on their own, then Hermione felt like the war wouldn't have stretched on for much longer than they had intended.

"How the hell do you know all of this?" he asked, perhaps for the umpteenth time. "This is crazy bullshite, Pettigrew. I'd like to think you are lying, but you've been too bloody detailed for me to even consider this as an elaborate lie. Granted, you have the brains to conjure such a ridiculous thing, but I don't think your imagination would run that wild, just to convince me to turn my back on the Dark Lord."

She swallowed down a lump in her throat and glanced down at the parchment once more. "I truly wish I could tell you, Regulus," she softly said. "But I – it's too risky for you to know. I'll tell you when I'm ready because I'm sure you'll think I'm off my rocker. I just want you to trust me."

Regulus grew pensive for a while, an indecipherable glint in his silver eyes. "If you're worried your secret might be revealed to others, then you have nothing to worry about," he slowly said. "I'm a natural Occlumens and my Father has trained me these past few years to strengthen my talent. It's a useful thing, especially if you are under the Dark Lord's very beck and call."

Hermione gave him a sad smile. "I trust you, Regulus," she said reassuringly. "But, I'm really not ready yet. Helping you wasn't even part of the plan. But" – she gestured at herself – "here I am now."

His gaze never strayed from Hermione. "Why are you really doing this?" he tentatively asked. "Why do you want to help me."

The answer tumbled from her lips before she could even think of it. "Because I want Voldemort to die," she breathlessly revealed. "Maybe even more than you do."

Regulus's eyes narrowed in curiosity, no doubt wondering what she meant. Hermione, on the other hand, found herself lost in Hermione Granger's memories - near-death encounters with the vilest wizard she had never met and how he, and his cronies, were the reason for all the turmoil back in her previous life.

Her eyes grew resolute even when they became blurred with tears. Hermione Granger may have failed, but Hermione Pettigrew sure as hell knew she would fight tooth and nail just to get another shot at destroying the purveyor of evil in this world. If it meant Ron would live until a ripe old age, if it meant Harry's face would be unmarred by a scar, if it meant all of Hermione Granger's friends would never even have to face Voldemort and his wrath at such a young age, then so be it.

"What do we do next?" the Slytherin whispered, breaking through her tumultuous thoughts.

Hermione rapidly blinked before glancing back at him. She pointed at the number one on her list, a determined grimace on her face. "Retrieving Ravenclaw's Diadem will be the easiest of them all because it's here, in Hogwarts," she said.

"A horcrux in Hogwarts?" he asked, looking as if it was the most preposterous thing he'd ever heard of.

"Yes," she replied. "And I know where it's hidden."

Regulus still looked deeply disturbed, but nodded nonetheless. "All right," he agreed. "When do you propose to retrieve it?"

Hermione pierced him with her blue eyes. "Collecting the horcruxes will be a difficult task, Regulus," she gravely said. "We can do it after we return from the holidays." Regulus opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione was already shaking her head. "I'm asking a lot from you. If you agree to team up with me and to collect all the horcruxes, then I have to rely on your Death Eater status to retrieve the other, more difficult ones."

He made a face, clearly displeased with her words, but stiffly nodded in the end.

"I'll give you another few weeks to think this through," she said, reaching forward to grasp his arm. "This will be dangerous. You might end up sacrificing your life if the situation calls for it."

It was unspoken how she resolutely refused for that situation to ever arise. She'd lost too much already in the war in her previous world. Hermione would do whatever it took to keep all of her friends alive and to bring Voldemort down at the same time.

His face was pale and his eyes were mighty nervous, but Regulus clenched his jaw and resolutely stared at Hermione. "I don't need to think about it anymore," he said with vehemence. "I really want all of this to end, Pettigrew."

She squeezed his arm for comfort and stiffly nodded her head. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay."

November 27, 1977

James had been true to his words and had arrived early to meet her at Ravenclaw Tower. He was less nervous now, cockier even, and he unabashedly stared at Hermione's attire with thinly-veiled appreciation in his eyes. "You look nice," was his greeting, flashing his handsome, lopsided grin. "No, scratch that. You look amazing."

Her cheeks flushed at his compliment, unused to being called as such. Hermione briefly glanced at her Muggle winter attire, noting she wasn't even wearing anything special. She definitely hadn't put too much thought into her clothes, but she had tried to still look decent for her date. Hermione was currently wearing Muggle denim jeans and boots to protect her from the cold. She also donned a maroon corduroy jacket that was toasty enough to make her comfortable.

James's grin widened at her flustered state, prompting her to glare at him and stomp down the staircase. The Gryffindor easily caught up with her as they strode towards the castle doors.

As they neared the outside, Hermione spied three familiar blokes leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for someone.

"Shite," James cursed, quickly scanning around for an escape route. But it was already too late, as Remus spied the two of them and quickly slapped both Sirius's and Peter's arms.

"Hermione?" her brother asked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Why are you still here?" James quickly asked, cheeks flaring as he took a few steps away from Hermione.

"It was bloody suspicious why you wanted to ditch us today all of a sudden," Sirius complained.

Peter's eyes never left Hermione's. "I thought you said you were going on a date," he said, his question directed at James.

Hermione heard James's soft shite once more and couldn't stop herself from snorting. "He is," she simply said.

"With whom?" Sirius asked, wildly looking around, expecting this mysterious girl to pop out any minute now.

Remus, rolling his eyes, whacked him on the underside of his head. "With her," he said, jutting his chin in her direction. "Obviously." There was unadulterated amusement in Remus's golden eyes, his gaze shifting from a steadily flushing James to an equally amused Hermione.

"What?" Peter thundered. Hermione's eyes swivelled back to her brother, who by now was stomping closer with a thunderous expression on his face.

Hermione had never seen Peter wear such an expression before. Much less an expression directed at James, the boy he'd been hero-worshipping since he was eleven years old. To add to the bizarreness of it all, James looked absolutely terrified of Peter.

"Look now, mate," James tried to appease. "I really wanted to tell you, but I hadn't found the right time."

She rolled her eyes when James shrank before Peter, who was ridiculously trying to tower over him, even though he was a few inches shorter than the Head Boy. Both Sirius and Remus found the whole thing hilarious and had been trying – but failing – to keep their bubbling laughter inside.

"Peter, honestly," Hermione implored with an exasperated sigh. "It's just a date."

Peter's blue eyes swivelled to Hermione, suddenly looking confused. "But you're—" He vigorously gestured at her, trying to convey his emotions through his actions, which Hermione didn't understand. "Hermione, you're just a—"

"Try to finish that sentence, you berk, and we'll see what the first spell I come up with is," Hermione warned with a deep frown. James's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, gaping at the Ravenclaw with the same equal terror he'd shown Peter a while ago.

Her brother clamped his lips together tightly and frowned. A staring contest between the Pettigrew siblings happened, something she and Peter usually engaged with during days when they'd had a terrible row. Hermione never backed down, unwilling to stare away first. Peter was stubborn, too, especially on his most incorrigible days. But Hermione never lost a staring contest with her brother. Predictably, it was Peter who looked away first, a dark scowl now plastered on his face.

"Peter," James suddenly called, drawing their attention to him. The bespectacled wizard looked nervous, yet resolute, as he ruffled his hair once more to make it stick in impossible directions. "I'm terribly, terribly sorry, but I really really like your sister."

A blush crept from her chest up to the roots of her hair, disbelieving how genuine James's expression was. Hermione found herself unable to bite back a small smile, shyly glancing down at the ground so that she could hide it from the others.

Sirius blew a low whistle. "So, you're the girl our Jamesy boy's been patiently waiting for," he pointed out, clarity now on his face.

"It's just a simple date, Peter," Hermione insisted once more. "I think your… overprotectiveness is sweet, but bloody uncalled for. I know a litany of spells that would make any man run for his life, before he even attempted to hurt me."

James released a soft, nervous chuckle, paling slightly at her claim. "Good thing you have other stellar features that outshine how truly terrifying you are, eh, Whiskers?" he said, attempting to ease the tension amongst the group.

Peter ignored James and frowned at his sister once more. "Hermione—"

"It's just a simple date," she blurted out for the third time. "If things don't work out, we can all go back to our old, merry ways."

She knew this would never work out because James would realise before he graduated that he still loved Lily after all. Hermione ignored the uncomfortable clench her heart had made at the thought, steadfastly latching onto the fact that Harry Potter must be born in this world, with James's face and Lily's eyes. That was all that mattered.

She even ignored how James frowned at her words because she knew if she dwelled on it deeper, it would be more difficult to detach herself from this exasperating boy.

Peter finally expelled a resigned sigh and warily threw a glare at James. "If you hurt her, James, I swear…"

"Peter," Hermione groaned. "Honestly."

"I won't," James ground out with a determined stare. "Marauder's honour."

Her brother stared at the taller wizard for a moment, before he stiffly nodded his head and looked away. He wordlessly strode back to Sirius and Remus, who had identical smiles of amusement on their faces.

"Don't worry about us today," Sirius assured as he threw an arm over Peter's shoulders and pulled him close. "Just go have fun, you kids."

"I bloody well knew it," Remus then revealed with a short laugh. Upon seeing the confused faces on James and Hermione, he continued, "You weren't being discreet about it, if you must know. And Prongs has been acting really strange for the past few days, especially with Hermione around. It was easy to piece two and two together."

The shaggy-haired Marauder nodded his head to concur. "I sometimes wondered why you'd been extra sweet to Hermione," he revealed.

James, now visibly relieved that Peter had backed down, immediately strode towards Hermione and casually threw his arm over her shoulders. Hermione stiffened at the action, her eyes widening a bit as she gazed up at the triumphant wizard. "See you later, wankers," he said.

Sirius threw him a mock salute while Remus bid them goodbye with a smile. Peter still petulantly stared ahead, unwilling to look back at his sister and his best mate.

"Don't worry about Peter," Hermione assured once the other three were out of earshot. "He's a buffoon. He'll get over it soon."

James grinned down at her, his eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. "He adores you, Hermione," he continued. "Peter really changes when something concerns his little sister. Blimey, you should have seen him after, you know, the incident with Snivellus and the full moon. He told us that if you had been hurt because of us, he'd choose you over our friendship in a heartbeat."

Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief. "He said that?" she gasped, surprised.

His smile turned soft. "Yeah," he answered. "He definitely has the Selwyn's temper, Hermione. Especially when the people he loves gets hurt."

She gazed back at the tiny dot that was her brother, her heart swelling with warmth and love. Peter really was the brother Hermione Granger had always wanted. She admittedly questioned before why, of all families, she had fallen into the Pettigrew's lives, most especially when the boy would grow up to become a traitor. But now… now, Hermione was glad that she had grown up as a Pettigrew, with Peter as her brother and Anya as her mother.

She wouldn't change them for the world.

-ooo-

James was the first one to jump off the carriage and he held out his hand, waiting for Hermione to take it. She still warily stared at his proffered hand, but took it nonetheless. She deftly jumped out of the carriage and nodded her thanks. James grinned and lightly squeezed her hand before letting it go. The warmth his hand had given her was gone, and frowning, Hermione clenched it into a fist to stop herself from reaching out.

"Where to first?" she quizzically asked, glancing around the crowded streets of Hogsmeade.

"Schrivenshaft's."

Hermione looked at him in surprise, but James was already striding towards the said shop.

The quill shop was filled with students pulling rolls and rolls of parchment from the shelves and buying new school supplies. Christmas holidays were fast approaching; thus, the professors were already piling them with Christmas homework.

James purposively strode towards the counter while Hermione trailed behind. She had nothing to buy here, so she just stuck close to James to stop herself from buying unnecessary things.

"Give me your most expensive quills," the Head Boy haughtily demanded. "Also, the most expensive ink well and parchment too."

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked with wide eyes as the store clerk nodded his head and grabbed said items from James's demands.

He grinned impishly down at Hermione. "You deserve the best," was his mere answer.

Her jaw dropped as the store clerk came back, showing the finest turkey and swan quills, stocks of inkwells in different colours, and parchments charmed not to crease. James thoughtfully picked out the things that caught his eyes and separated them from the rest.

"How much?" he asked.

The store clerk glanced at a yellowing parchment with a hovering Quick Quotes Quill computing the price above it. "That'll be twenty-five galleons," he said.

Hermione took a sharp intake of breath while James merely nodded his head and fished a leather pouch from his robes.

"James," she chided. "It's too expensive."

"'Thank you, James. You're really sweet' will suffice, Hermione," he cheekily replied, tossing the galleons towards the store clerk and grabbing his new purchases. "Think of this as part of my Christmas gift to you."

"A part?" she gasped.

He looked at her like she was barmy. "Well, yes," he said. "Who only wants to get school supplies as a Christmas gift?"

"I do," she snapped, taking offense.

The bespectacled wizard laughed and muttered, "Of course you do." He then walked out of the store together with Hermione, already scanning around. "Do you want to go to Honeydukes next?"

"I still have lots of my toffees," she said. "Besides, someone keeps on giving me enough to last the whole year."

"Lunch then?" he asked, his eyes dancing with laughter. She matched his smile and nodded her head, already walking towards the Three Broomsticks and planning the meal she'd order.

When she entered, her eyes instantly magnetised towards fiery red hair. Lily's eyes lit up when she saw her too, excitedly waving her hand in greeting. Sev gave her a brief smile, but then grimaced upon seeing her companion. One look at James showed he mirrored Sev's face, prompting Hermione to roll her eyes.

"This place is awfully packed today," James complained, gazing around in search of an empty table. "Maybe we can go to Madam Puddifoot's?"

Hermione's eyes widened in horror. "No, I'd rather die," she claimed in an impassioned voice.

James snorted. "I know the place is tacky and all, but they serve decent tea, Hermione," he said.

But the brunette still refused, persistently gazing around the small pub to search for an empty table they could sit at. She even tried to stare down a couple sitting a few tables away, who weren't eating anymore but were too busy making googly eyes at each other.

Frustrated, she blew another breath and glanced back to where Lily and Sev were sitting. Lily was already looking at her, lifting an eyebrow in question.

An idea suddenly formed in Hermione's head and she sheepishly smiled at her best friend. The redhead immediately understood what her gaze meant, for she was vigorously shaking her head, looking at Hermione as if she'd gone barmy. She gestured wildly at her boyfriend, relaying that it would be bloody disastrous. But Hermione was already hungry and she'd rather not step foot in a teashop that reminded her so much of Dolores Umbridge.

"What are you doing?" James asked, bemused.

For her reply, Hermione grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him towards Lily and Sev. James realised where she was taking him and dug his heels in the ground.

"Hermione," he complained, "this is a bad idea."

"Oh, hush," she tutted, yanking him forward once more until he relented and allowed her to drag him until they had reached her best friends' table.

"Hi," the brunette said with a brilliant smile. Lily was looking at her like she'd grown another head, while Sev was busy staring daggers at James. "There are no more empty tables. Do you mind if we join you?"

"Yes," Sev and James blurted out at the same time.

Hermione's smile grew tight and she pretended she hadn't heard their replies. She proceeded to plop down on the seat across from Sev, yanking James's sleeve once more, until he had no other choice but to slide on the vacant seat beside her.

"Potter," Lily greeted with a hesitant smile, absentmindedly placing a hand on Sev's clenched fist on top of the table to calm him down.

James's eyes swivelled momentarily towards Lily. "Evans," he greeted, then looked back at Sev to glare at him again.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Blimey, what are you both? Five?" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"He's on our table, Pettigrew," Sev gruffly said, glaring darkly at Hermione.

"He's with me," she said, lifting her nose in the air.

Lily's green eyes glinted in curiosity as she leant down closer to the two. "So, is this some kind of a date or something?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow when Hermione's cheeks reddened almost immediately.

James shyly grinned and ruffled his hair. "Yeah," he said, his glare melting into an amused look as he looked back at Lily. "Jealous, Evans?"

"Piss off, Potter," Lily said with a loud snort, but Hermione could see how the corners of her lips were twitching upwards.

"Funny, I remember you asking me out that one time – about bringing you to Hogsmeade," James drawled cockily, leaning back on the chair with a smug smile. "When was that again? Two months ago?"

"What?" Hermione and Sev asked at the same time, eyes growing wide as they stared at Lily in disbelief.

Lily scowled at James then sheepishly glanced at the other two. "It was a test," she explained, appeasing her suddenly infuriated boyfriend. "Potter had been acting really strange and I wanted to test a theory." Her eyes landed on Hermione and she smiled. "It didn't take too long for me to conclude that Potter liked you instead, Hermione - which explained his strange behaviour."

This time, James flushed in embarrassment, but his smile was still in place. "Conniving witch," James said, followed by a boisterous laugh. "I always wondered why you asked me. What a very Slytherin thing to do, Evans."

"Well, I'm dating a Slytherin," she said, looping an arm around Sev's. "After spending too much time with him, you can't help but pick up his traits."

Hermione silently observed their playful banter, frowning deeply at how annoyingly benign it was. She was expecting some thick tension, nervousness from James' part – even jealousy, if she were being honest with herself – but the two acted like proper, good-natured friends.

"That's absolutely true," James said as he casually swung his arm across Hermione's chair. "After spending a lot of time with Hermione, I think I'm turning into a swot."

She slightly stiffened at the feel of his arm, his fingers lightly brushing through her curls.

James then turned to her. "Fancy some butterbeer, Whiskers?" he asked, throwing her an easy smile.

Not trusting herself to speak, she mutely nodded her head. Bloody bloke pointedly stared at her flushed cheeks and smirked triumphantly, knowing full well how his close proximity made her feel.

He deliberately pulled his arm away, intentionally letting his fingers brush the curve of her shoulders, before standing up from his seat and striding towards Madame Rosmerta.

"Godric, Hermione," Lily gushed out, "you're hopeless. I can't believe I missed your feelings for Potter when you're being bloody obvious about them now."

Hermione's cheeks reddened more as she scowled at her best friend. "You knew about his… his feelings," she exclaimed. "How come you didn't tell me?"

Lily snorted. "And miss all the fun?" she asked, tossing her glossy red hair over her shoulder. "Potter was bloody obvious, Hermione. He may be a toerag, but he most definitely wears his heart on his sleeve. I admit it took me a while to realise it, because I was busy trying to get away from him before he started being annoying again. But, once I had pieced everything together, it made perfect sense." She jutted a thumb at the Slytherin beside her. "Even Sev arrived at that conclusion."

Hermione looked at Sev with wide eyes, prompting him to roll his eyes. "I can't believe you're being mighty obtuse about this, Hermione," he said with a disappointed sigh. "Brightest witch of her age, my arse."

The Ravenclaw leaned forward and swatted his arm. Lily released a mock gasp and hugged her boyfriend, seemingly protecting him from Hermione's violent outbursts. "Not the sourpuss, Hermione!" she exclaimed. "He growls easily."

Said sourpuss caught himself mid-growl and threw a dark glare at his girlfriend instead.

Hermione laughed when Lily merely grinned, mercilessly teasing Sev until the Slytherin was flustered and annoyed. James chose that moment to saunter back to their table, a hovering tray with butterbeers and chips following him from behind.

"Ack, are they always this gross?" James said, scrunching his nose.

The brunette laughed and looked at him with twinkling eyes. "Always."

-ooo-

Surprisingly, conversation among them had been easy and relaxed. James and Sev still continuously glared at each other, but they would become distracted by a question asked by the witches. James constantly teased Lily, and the redhead would constantly tell him to piss off, but Hermione noted that Lily was steadily warming up to the Potter heir. Perhaps, it was a step in the right direction, and Hermione forced herself to smile throughout the conversation, convincing herself this was the right thing to do.

Their stay at The Three Broomsticks stretched on until the sun began setting outside. Lily and Sev bid them goodbye first, claiming they still needed to go to Honeydukes to buy their sweets.

"You know," James idly said, facing Hermione once the couple had gone, "I have a confession to make."

Her heart clenched painfully inside her chest, unsure what his words pertained to. "Yeah?" she breathlessly asked.

"After spending time with your best friends today, I have concluded that Evans and I could never have worked out," James said, followed by a soft laugh. Hermione's eyes widened at his declaration. "I hate to bloody say this, but Snive – Snape is good for Lily. I mean, really, really good, considering who he is and how smarmy he can be."

Hermione wordlessly glanced at this boy, trying to search his face for even any semblance of animosity or jealousy. But James looked anything but, his hazel eyes bright, an amused smile stretched on his face.

Hermione didn't know how to feel about that.

James suggested they went back to Hogwarts since it was getting darker. Hermione was silent throughout their journey, her mind still a jumbled mess from thinking about all things James, Lily and the future. She knew James was sending nervous, worried looks at her, but she couldn't form any words that would reassure him.

Before she knew it, she was staring at the entrance door to Ravenclaw Tower.

"Hey, Hermione, I—" James awkwardly ran a hand through his hair and smiled shyly at her. "I had fun today, honest."

She managed to show a small smile. "Yeah, me too," she said. Despite the contemplating she had done, she did have fun with James today.

He looked highly doubtful. "Yeah?" he asked, uncertain. "You became quiet on the way back to Hogwarts so I was worried things didn't end well."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, her cheeks splattering with pink. "I just had a lot of things on my mind."

"Like?"

"Never mind that," she said with a soft smile. "Thank you for today, James. I really had fun, too."

He nervously ran a hand through his hair once more, looking as if he wanted to say something more. Hermione patiently waited for him to start speaking, watching him with mild amusement as he relentlessly fussed with his hair.

"This isn't the last date, right?" he finally blurted out, his face crumpling in ridiculous terror.

Something in Hermione's heart stirred. She somehow felt exhausted - from all the denying and the pulling away. With a tentative smile, she replied, "Maybe this isn't the last. Maybe another one won't hurt at all."

The relieved smile he gave her made her breath hitch. "So, does this mean we really are going out?" he asked giddily, his hazel eyes glinting with hope and happiness again

She flushed and nervously laughed. "I don't know," she honestly said. "I haven't really been in a lot of relationships to know how things become official. And… I… there's still a lot of confusing things to work out, and—"

James cut her off with a chuckle, reaching forward to cup her cheek with his big, warm hand. Hermione froze, her eyes growing wide, as James leant closer so that his eyes were level with hers. She honestly thought he would kiss her right there and then, and Hermione wondered whether she would lean forward or pull away. His eyes briefly darted at her parted lips, his hazel eyes darkening with an emotion that almost stole her breath away.

"We'll slow things down," he whispered, his lips almost brushing against hers. "There's no need to rush."

Not trusting herself to speak, Hermione nodded her head twice.

A teasing smirk slowly grew on his face as he finally pulled away. Hermione bit her bottom lip, trying to swallow down a disappointed groan. "It's terribly easy to fluster you, Whiskers," he claimed. He laughingly dodged her heavy hand, muttering a brief apology for his teasing. Hermione lifted her hand once more to swat his arm, but James caught it with his hand, halting her in the process.

His eyes softened as he stared at their clasped hands. He shifted their hands together until his fingers laced through hers. "If," he whispered, cheeks reddening a bit, "If I come here tomorrow to walk you down to breakfast, would you let me hold your hand?"

He slowly met her startled gaze and smiled. "I promise not to cross a line if it makes you uncomfortable, Hermione," he quickly added.

Hermione tore her gaze away from him and looked at their clasped hands. James's hand was big and warm, and calloused from constantly holding his wooden broom. His hand perfectly fit hers, like a puzzle piece clicking into the right place.

Her heart thudded loudly against her ribcage and she wondered if James could hear it.

"Yes," she finally breathed out. Her eyes met his once more. "Yes, you can."

November 28, 1977

The next day, Hermione woke up due to a deafening crack of thunder. There was a torrential storm outside her window, which made her miserable. Her hair was more monstrous and she didn't want to leave her bed at all. But her stomach was protesting and she didn't want to skip breakfast.

She freshened up, donned her uniform and grabbed for her bag, before striding out of her room. She noted with mild amusement that the other students were annoyed by the sudden storm. It was extra cold and despite the roaring fire and murmured warming charms, the chill stubbornly stayed.

Hermione sighed and hugged herself tighter as she climbed out of their common room.

She instantly saw James, leaning casually against the bannister whilst absentmindedly tossing his Golden Snitch in the air. His eyes immediately landed on hers when he heard the door closing behind her.

"Hi," he greeted with a toothy grin.

"Hi," she replied back.

James pushed himself away from the bannister and pocketed the golden ball. He wordlessly grabbed her bag and slung it across his shoulders. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Bloody starving," Hermione moodily replied.

He laughed and leaned closer to Hermione, his arm sliding down until he clutched her cold hand. Hermione shyly shifted them together until her fingers could lace through his.

James's smile was like the bright sun, which was absolutely ridiculous, because the storm outside was raging and persistent. And Hermione couldn't look away.

A/N: Ah yes, some Jamione fluff to soothe your troubled hearts haha!

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WickedlyAwesomeMe

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