A/N: Thank you to my patient Beta, lozipozivanillabean.

Chapter Warning: I'm not sure if I should be putting a warning but this fic is rated 'Mature' for a reason lmao so yeah.

xxxxvi.

but still they lead me back to the long winding road

(The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles)

November 4, 1979

The rain had become torrential. Hermione found herself materialising a few blocks away from the Snapes' House. Tears steadily streamed down from her eyes as she tore through the empty streets until she was standing in front of their lovely, wooden door, drenched to the bone and very much distraught.

She loudly rapped her knuckles against the door, mentally berating herself at the same time for not thinking this through. Lily and Sev may still be away for work, making this whole visit a waste of time.

But then, she heard the quiet shuffling of footsteps from the other side of the door, before it was yanked open to reveal a disgruntled Lily. There were still remnants of sleep on her face and her hair was dishevelled, and Hermione felt guilty all the more.

"Hermione!" she cried in surprise, her disgruntled face morphing into unadulterated shock upon seeing her best friend. "What in Merlin's name are you doing out in this bloody storm?"

"I-I'm sorry," she sobbed, lifting her hand to haphazardly wipe away the tears and rain on her cheeks. "I didn't know where else to go. This was the first place I thought of and—" She trailed off as more tears slipped down from her eyes.

"Oh, Merlin, what's wrong? What happened?" Her deep concern only prompted her to cry harder.

"James," she whispered. "It's James. He proposed to me and… and… why did he have to do that?"

Lily's emerald eyes widened in shock. "You didn't—"

"No," she said, cutting her off as she glumly shook her head. "I didn't."

She could see the numerous questions running inside the redhead's mind but Lily swallowed them all and ushered Hermione inside. The older witch then pulled out her wand and spelled her dry and warm, then brought her towards the squashy couch in their living room to sit her down.

Lily took the seat behind Hermione and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, patiently waiting as Hermione continued to cry. She hadn't said a peep, even when Hermione jumped onto her feet and started to wear their carpet down, murmuring words faster than a flying snitch in between terrified sobs, until she was shaking and quiet and very much tired.

Lily disappeared into the kitchen, only to return with a steaming cup of tea. Hermione murmured her thanks and accepted the hot beverage and laid it on the coffee table.

"Why?"

She directed her red-rimmed, watery eyes towards her best friend, noting the confusion on her face. "Why what?" she rasped, voice raw and scratchy from her constant sobbing.

"Why didn't you accept the proposal?" she gently asked. "Why did you run away?"

Hermione closed her eyes and quietly shook her head.

"Everybody can see that James Potter would give you the world if you asked for it, Hermione," her best friend continued. "And I thought… I thought you'd do the same for him."

Her heart throbbed painfully inside her chest, unwilling to accept Lily's simple claim, knowing that that wasn't supposed to happen. "Lily," she answered instead, "don't you really love James? Don't you have any feelings for him?"

Lily sputtered out a disbelieving laugh. "Hermione, I'm married to the man I love!" she exclaimed. "Why are you so adamant on getting us together?"

"Because James is not supposed to love me, Lily," she vehemently replied. Lily's eyes widened and Hermione's tears increased. The emerald eyes staring right back at her was too painful to look at, forcing her to look away and stare unseeingly at her hands.

"But he does," Lily said, reaching forward to place a comforting hand on her arm. "He really does, Hermione." She squeezed her arm until Hermione had no choice but to look at those emerald eyes once more. "I'm not sure if he's told you already, but James freaking Potter willingly came to my house, Sev's house, to ask for our blessing to marry you. Some Pureblood shite he wanted to adhere to, because we're your best friends and he wanted to do it properly because he loves you."

Lily's eyes turned surprisingly sad. "I don't really understand why you're freaking out over this. I thought you loved him very much too."

She thickly swallowed. "Because if I say yes to James, the person I love the most in my previous life, the reason why I continued to trudge on and continued fighting in that awful, tiring war, will cease to exist."

Lily was flummoxed by her words, her hold on Hermione's arm slackening.

"So I can't marry James. Not when I feel like I'm robbing him of the chance to live a happy life in this world." Bile rose up from her stomach when she spied Lily's wedding ring, mentally berating herself for not fighting too much to keep Harry alive in this world. She hated how she momentarily forgot Harry during Lily's wedding, mind and heart too blinded by James's beautiful eyes and lopsided smile. She hated how she'd momentarily forgotten Harry during their wedding because she wanted her best friends to be genuinely happy.

Hermione felt like she'd betrayed Harry, even though she had worked tooth and nail to follow him to the ends of the earth, vowing to keep him safe. She'd failed him once when she was unable to rescue him from the Death Eaters. She didn't want to fail him again.

Her mind started to race, trying to come up with a solution on how she would get Lily and James together. Sev might hate her for the rest of her life, but that wouldn't matter once Harry Potter was born. James may never talk to her again, his wounded expression briefly resurfacing in her mind, and although it would be too painful for her, everything wouldn't matter once Harry Potter was born.

"Hermione."

All her thoughts halted. There was something in Lily's tone that made her look sharply at her. The expression on her face was serious and firm, but there were also tears gathering in her green eyes. Lily looked very much like Harry Potter right now, with that quiet resolution that was unparalleled and clear, green eyes that merely wanted the whole world to be a better place for everybody.

Her face crumpled when sobs shook her shoulders. "Hermione," Lily said, gentler this time, "if this person loves you as much as you loved him, I don't think he'd appreciate it very much if you set aside your happiness for the sake of his."

Lily shifted on the couch and gathered Hermione into her arms. "You are a wonderful person, Hermione. Do you know that?" She traced soothing circles on her back and Hermione clutched to the back material of her nightgown like her life depended on it. "The love you give to others is wonderful and unrivalled. I'm sure this person appreciated everything you did for him. I may not personally know him, but if he had you as a friend, I think he'd want you to be happy. More than anything else in this world, in fact. You can't live in your past, Hermione. Not when you can give so much to this world – your present. Besides, you've said this before: you're not Hermione Granger anymore. You're Hermione Pettigrew. If you fully accept this simple fact, then what's holding you back from becoming happy in this world?"

She slowly pulled away and peered at Hermione's face. There were already tears slipping down from her eyes but Lily didn't seem to notice. "Live a happy life, Hermione. Please. You, of all people, deserve to."

Her breath hitched and her watery eyes widened. Lily had a kind smile on her face, already brushing the tears away from Hermione's face. For a moment, her face morphed into Harry's, the emerald eyes the very same. The smile Lily wore was exactly like the one Harry had worn during his very last minutes alive and when he'd breathed out, "Live a happy life, Hermione." Hermione's face crumpled. More sobs escaped from her mouth as she buried her face in Lily's neck.

-ooo-

She inhaled a lungful of soot when she stumbled out of the fireplace. During her coughing fit Pokey appeared, releasing a gasp of surprise at seeing the brunette.

"Miss Hermione!" she cried, zooming toward Hermione with amazing speed. "Pokey thought Miss was with Master James!" Her eyes glittered with excitement. "Did Miss Hermione accept the proposal? Will Miss make Pokey very happy by promising to be the Future Mistress of the House?"

A watery chuckle escaped her lips as she brushed off the soot from her shoulders. "Pokey," she firmly said instead of answering her numerous questions. "Where's James?"

Pokey furrowed her furry eyebrows. "Pokey hasn't seen Master James," she slowly said. "Pokey thought Miss Hermione was with Master James!"

Loud thunder boomed outside, echoing throughout the spacious foyer. "Oh, Merlin," she groaned, already having an inkling as to where James would be right now.

"Is everything all right, Miss Hermione?" Pokey asked, suddenly looking worried.

"Everything will be soon, I hope," she sighed. "Thank you, Pokey. I must look for James now."

The house-elf still looked confused, but Hermione didn't stay long enough to notice, and instead ran towards the back of the Manor. She yanked the backdoor open and almost backpedalled at how strong the downpour was. Hermione was undeterred, however, pulling out her wand from her pocket and spelling a small shield overhead to act as her umbrella.

Hermione splashed through the wet field, her boots making squelchy noises along the way. She almost stumbled and fell down, but Hermione continued running, her wildly beating heart propelling her to continue, hoping against hope that she hadn't botched everything up.

She neared the cabin and saw the little picnic James had prepared for her was still there. The bonfire had been long extinguished by the torrential rain, with billows of smoke rising up into the sky. The blankets and throw pillows were already drenched with rain but James… James was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione started to panic, her eyes wildly sweeping around in search of him. A white figure nearby caught her eye and as she ran closer, relief flooded her upon recognising James in his Animagus form. The stag had also noticed her arrival, for he tried to trot away.

"No, wait!" she cried when James turned around, ready to bolt away from her. "James, please, let me speak!"

Blessedly, he stopped, but James still didn't turn around. Tears welled up in her eyes once more and Hermione tried to speak, tried to form words despite her jumbled mind. She was choking up with overwhelming emotion, with Lily and Harry's words echoing repeatedly inside her head.

Live a happy life, Hermione.

"I'm sorry, James," she whispered in defeat. The stag made a strange noise that sounded like a huff and he tried to run away again, but Hermione called out his name, forcing him to stop.

"I'm sorry I ran away," she continued, lifting one hand to wipe away her eyes. "I got… I got scared. Very scared."

Hermione slowly approached him, her keen eyes never leaving his form. Even in his stag form, she could see that his shoulders were tense. "You have to understand that I have knowledge of the future, James," she deliberately continued. "I know how things will end up if I don't intervene. And… and I sure as hell know that falling in love with you will be bloody disastrous." She glumly closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "But I ended up doing it anyway and it still confuses me very much why in Merlin's name you feel the same way too."

James slowly craned his neck upwards and met her eyes.

"I'm scared," she repeated again. "I'm scared that if I continue to do this, repercussions will happen that will be too painful for me to endure. I'm scared that if I continue to do this, the better future I hoped for will not be realised because… because my best friend—" She swallowed down a sob and brushed her fringes away. "But what scares me more is imagining a future without you in it."

She swore the stag stopped breathing all together, but Hermione wasn't finished. "The future is uncertain, I know," she continued. "But… but I understand now, that despite all the uncertainties and doubt I'm feeling right now, the only certain thing that I know is that I love you."

Hermione dared to take a few more steps as a shaky smile grew on her face. "So yes, yes, fuck it, yes, I'm going to marry you, and take care of you, and wake up beside you, and build a home with you. I'm so tired of not being happy anymore. I love you, James. Yes, I will marry you."

It felt like everything had stilled and all Hermione could hear was her loudly beating heart and the blood rushing in her ears. Even James hadn't moved, and Hermione didn't dare move either, lest she drove him away and lost her chance forever.

And then, James changed back into his human form, his hazel eyes bright and gleaming and wide and so, so beautiful. Hermione distractedly wondered where his glasses were, but James was suddenly in front of her in three big strides. All she could see was how he was breathing heavily, his gaze intense.

"Say it again," he breathed out.

A soft laugh escaped from her lips. "Which part?" she asked. "I've said a mouthful of words and—"

"Hermione!" he cut her off in exasperation. "Say it again. The last part. Loud and bloody fucking clear, like you truly mean it, sweet Merlin."

She grinned widely. "Yes," she repeated. "I will marry you."

James yanked her towards him and covered her lips with his mouth, eagerly kissing her and swallowing her stifled laugh. Hermione stood on her tiptoes and looped her arms around his neck. Now, without the protection of her makeshift umbrella, hard, cold rain washed over her form.

Hermione laughingly pulled away. "It's bloody raining!" she exclaimed. "We should get inside."

He grinned and stared down at her for a few moments, gently brushing away the wet curls that stuck to her face. Then, instead of pulling her towards Potter Manor, James led her into the nearby cabin. Without the werewolf inside, the cabin easily gave them access, allowing James to pull the door open and usher them both inside.

The lamps mounted on the wall instantly illuminated when they entered. Hermione pattered towards the fireplace and shot a quick spell at it to make the room warm and toasty. She noted in amusement how she was dripping all over the place and she immediately shrugged off her jacket, heavy and cold from the rain.

When she turned around to look at James, her smile faltered. His eyes held this intense gaze, reflecting the flickering fire behind her. He'd also shrugged off his grey robes, revealing his white button-down shirt and denim jeans. The shirt hugged his muscles, which rippled through the thin fabric.

James slowly approached her and Hermione couldn't look away from his gaze. Her heart thudded loudly at each step he took and by the time he'd reached her, she realised she was pressed against the wall, effectively trapped between that and the mesmerising man in front of her.

He reached forward and cradled the back of her head. His lips were upon hers once more, his mouth moving more fiercely and urgent. Hermione's eyes fluttered closed as she braced herself upright, placing her hands against his chest. Warmth pooled in between her thighs and she pressed herself closer to James, wanting to feel him more.

James broke the kiss but his lips never left her skin. He trailed slow kisses down her jaw until he reached her neck. He nipped a particularly sensitive spot at the junction between her neck and shoulder, prompting her breath to hitch and for her to grab a fistful of his shirt.

"Tell me, Hermione," he breathed out. One of his hands grasped the end of the ribbon tied around her right shoulder. "Tell me what will happen if I pull this."

Hermione thickly swallowed, her fingers weaving through his damp, messy hair. "Why don't you pull it to find out?" she whispered in return.

James took a sharp intake of breath and quickly met her eyes. His pupils were blown wide with want, almost dark brown and dangerous. His hold on the ribbon tightened and when Hermione didn't make any move to stop him, he yanked the ribbon in one single pull. The right side of Hermione's dress fluttered open, revealing a black bra. Her cheeks darkened when his eyes glanced down at her chest, followed by a breathy expletive. Then, he was kissing her again.

His kiss grew hungrier as his other hand yanked the other ribbon. Hermione quivered when he brushed his fingers against her covered breast before unabashedly cupping it in his palm. A quiet moan escaped from her lips when his thumb padded against her pebbled nipple, and Hermione shivered once more.

"Cold, love?" he asked, breaking free from her lips to allow her a few gulps of air.

"A-a bit," she stuttered. She softly laughed when she crumpled his shirt with both of her hands. "Your shirt is cold and wet."

Without asking for his permission, she started to pop the buttons open. James eagerly helped her and met her in the middle, immediately shrugging his shirt off once the last button came undone. Hermione appreciatively marvelled his toned chest, a few tufts of hair grazing the muscular expanse. Auror training had been really kind to James.

She extended her hand to place it on his chest, but James caught her wrist to stop her from doing so. Her eyes flew to his face and underneath all of the swirling emotions in his hazel eyes, James was tensely staring at her, a silent question in his gaze.

This was the final line to be crossed. And James knew that. He'd been very careful with his actions in the past, trying to rein in the obvious desire in his eyes every time he'd kissed her and pulled her close. The hard poking against her thighs every time she kissed him already spoke volumes of how much he wanted her, all of her, and he had been patiently waiting for Hermione to give him permission.

But the fact was, the line had long been erased, slowly obliterated with every kiss, every touch and every breathed word of affection. She'd long knew she wanted all of him too, but had been too scared to breach those dangerous waters because of how she still lived in the past, dead set on keeping Harry alive and to give him the happiness he deserved, even when the future had been bloody uncertain now that she was here.

And so, with a small, fond smile, she tried to reach forward again. James's hold on her wrist slackened, his hand slipping back to his side, and when Hermione placed her hand right where his heart was, he took a sharp intake of breath.

"Take me to bed, James."

The steady pulse underneath her palm had grown stronger and was pounding. James didn't need to be told twice as he set into action, yanking Hermione towards him and hoisting her upwards. Hermione instinctively wrapped her legs and arms around him, her eyes never leaving his face.

His hold around her waist was tight and secure and James started the slow trek towards the bedroom in the cabin. He started to kiss her again too, stopping countless of times just to press her against the wall to trace his tongue along the curve of her neck. Along the way, Hermione had discarded her bra, tossed carelessly aside as skin against skin preoccupied their minds.

Finally, blessedly, James kicked open the bedroom door and stumbled inside. Hermione slowly slid down from his embrace, dragging a groan out of James's mouth when her breasts skimmed against the expanse of his chest. He pulled down her half-opened dress, now a messy pool at her feet, and Hermione stepped aside, now only clad in her knickers and nothing more.

"Fuck, Hermione," he rasped. His lips were pressed near her ear, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. "Do you even know what you're doing to me?"

She whimpered when his teeth lightly grazed the sensitive spot near her earlobe. His lips captured hers once more, and he pushed them both onto the bed until they'd fallen down on it with a huff, unwilling to break their kiss.

James pried her knees open and skimmed his fingers down her inner thigh. The ache in Hermione's navel tightened, and she hissed softly when he brushed his fingertips along the hem of her knickers. James smirked against her neck and in retaliation, she tightened her grip on the back of his messy mop of hair.

"Very impatient," he rasped with a low chuckle, his dark eyes briefly meeting hers. James dropped a searing kiss against her lips and continued his trek downward until he captured one of her taut nipples. Hermione expelled a stuttering gasp, her back involuntarily arching as his tongue darted out. At the same time, James slipped a finger inside her knickers and murmured a soft curse against her breast. "Fucking hell, Hermione, you're very ready for me, aren't you?"

He pulled away to yank her knickers down her knees and Hermione impatiently shrugged them away and onto the floor. James met her lips while he plunged a finger inside her wet folds. He swallowed her gasp and worked hard to please her. She squirmed when the pad of his thumb brushed against that sensitive bundle of nerves but it wasn't enough.

She clawed at his trousers, her palm skimming over his obvious bulge. James groaned and Hermione took that as encouragement to undo his buttons. With her odd position, she fumbled with her fingers, prompting her to exhale a frustrated breath.

James grinned against her lips and did it for her instead. He braced his arms against her side, allowing her to yank his trousers down. She thickly swallowed at his thick member and blushed, her eyes shyly glancing back at James's face.

"Look at that," he huskily replied. "I'm very much ready for you too."

He kicked off his trousers until they joined her knickers on the floor and positioned himself properly once more.

And for a moment, they stilled. Chests heaving, breaths mingling, eyes shining, Hermione's heart lurched at the expression on James's face. His cheeks were flushed from exertion and desire, and his hazel eyes were almost dark brown. His lips were swollen from their furious kissing and there were already beads of sweat on his forehead. Despite the darkness surrounding them in the bedroom, his face was open and radiant, like the bright sun on a clear, blue day.

She slowly lifted a hand and buried her fingers in his messy hair. "I love you, James," she breathed out quietly, reverently. Her blue eyes slightly watered, disbelieving at how she'd almost ruined this chance of being happy with someone like him. James had quietened the storm in her mind, calmed the ferocious tides in her heart, and soothed the aches her past life had given her. How could she constantly deny to herself that if she were to be happy in this second life she just had to stay by James's side?

Her eyes fluttered closed when he leaned down again, whispering a soft 'I love you' in return before his lips covered hers. A startled gasp escaped from her lips when he slowly inserted inside her wet folds, taking a moment to let her stretch for him. She keened when he deliberately drew back, only to stutter out a clipped breath when he snapped his hips quickly with a mighty thrust.

Moans in staccato tumbled out of her lips with each thrust as she clawed at his back. James murmured incoherent words against her skin, kissing her everywhere his lips could touch. His hand had travelled down between her thighs and he'd started to rub her sensitive bulb.

Her walls quivered, tightening around him, and an impending pressure built behind her navel. With each thrust, she was brought nearer to the edge and Hermione begged for the inevitable release.

"Open your eyes, Hermione. Look at me."

He stopped all movement and waited for her to open her eyes. Blue soon met hazel and James tensely watched as he thrusted again. Hermione expelled a soft cry, her eyes rolling. His fingers dug against the flesh of her hip and her eyes snapped back towards his face. "Look at me," he repeated, his thumb swiping against the bundle of nerves as he thrust deeply.

In two, deep lunges, a wave of pleasure shot through her body. Hermione tightly closed her eyes and huffed out another cry, desperately clinging onto James. He stilled as she quivered against him and only when the crashing waves of pleasure had receded into peaceful satiation, did she meet his eyes again.

She felt marvellously tired but very much alive. She touched James's cheek, quietly watching as he continued rocking his hips for his own release. It didn't take too long for him to reach his orgasm, burying his face against her neck to stifle his moans. She could feel him twitching inside her and merely held him, running soothing circles on his back.

All the tension from his body left him as James sank onto the bed beside her. He nuzzled against her neck and draped an arm over her waist, lazily pulling her closer until she was pressed against him. "I love you," he whispered, pressing a kiss against her temple. "I love you, Hermione."

She sleepily smiled and held him close. "I love you too."

November 5, 1979

Sunlight streamed through the dusty windowpanes of the cabin, bathing Hermione's sleeping face and prompting her to open her eyes. She blearily blinked a few times and furrowed her brows, slightly disoriented when she realised she wasn't back home in her bedroom.

She stilled as a warm breath brushed against the crown of her head. She glanced at the toned arm slung protectively over her bare abdomen, the fingers resting just along the curve of her breasts.

A light blush burned her cheeks when memories of last night came crashing back to her. She felt ridiculously sore but satiated as a small grin appeared on her face.

Hermione squirmed a bit, tickled by James's warm breath. The arm around her tightened at the same time before he unabashedly cupped her breast with his warm palm. She huffed a soft laugh and grasped his wrist to place it back against her abdomen once more.

"Blimey, I'm sure one day I'll die of suffocation because of your monstrous hair, Whiskers." His voice was still raspy from sleep. He brushed her hair away to expose her neck, just so he could plant a warm kiss against her cool skin. "Hi."

Her blush deepened as she looked at him over her shoulder. "Hi," she replied back, thickly swallowing at how devastatingly handsome James Potter looked in the morning. His hair stuck up in various directions while his hazel eyes looked as bright as the sunlight streaming through the small bedroom. Outside, it looked like there hadn't been a storm yesterday at all.

Hermione shifted on the bed to fully face James. His hand was instantly cradling her jaw, pressing a brief kiss on her lips, before pulling away and beaming down at her. "Slept well, love?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded her head.

"Quite tired too, I'm guessing." His smile turned into a sly smirk and despite the embarrassment, she rolled her eyes at how pompous he looked.

"Isn't it too early for your ego to make an appearance?"

James made a huge show of thinking, prompting Hermione to roll her eyes again. "Nope," he said with a loud pop. He grinned once more and neared his face towards Hermione. "Not when the most brilliant and beautiful girl I've ever met agreed to marry me. And shagged me senselessly last night as an added bonus! I thought at first it would be the worst day I'd ever had but no, I'm glad it still ended up like how I'd hoped."

Her smile faltered. "I'm sorry, James," she murmured.

He sighed and pulled her close until her head ended up pressed against his neck. "You honestly almost gave me a heart attack last night," he admonished. "And truth be told, I still cannot understand why you ran away when you made it clear that you're very much in love with me, Hermione. Why you always run away, really." His hold on her tightened as another sigh escaped from his lips. "But… I'm partially to blame too. After you told me you loved me, I just assumed that we're finally on the same page in this relationship. I should have… I should have talked to you first before unloading you the big question. It's—"

"Stop."

James flinched. "What?" he nervously asked.

Hermione slowly tilted her head to meet his eyes. "Stop," she said, this time barely above a whisper. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and she almost bit back a smile at how panicky James became. "It's—" She paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I should have told you everything first. About… my past life. About him – my best friend. It wasn't fair to you. I've constantly pushed you away because I wasn't able to completely let him go and it's not—" She glumly frowned. "You should be mad at me, James."

"I ammad at you," he pointed out. When Hermione quirked an eyebrow, his cheeks bloomed red. "Well, I was, but you've been very distracting last night so forgive me if my feelings hadn't been what you've expected."

She snorted out a laugh as a tear rolled down from her eye. James reached out and tenderly brushed her tear away. "So this him," he lowly continued, "what was it about him that made you really scared of being with me?"

"Because," she started, "if I willingly chose to be with you in this timeline, he won't exist at all."

His hazel eyes grew wide in alarm. "What?" he sputtered out. "Why?"

She pierced him with her blue eyes. This was it – the truth she'd kept to herself because she still wished her own version of Harry Potter would be born in this timeline. But, after her conversation with Lily last night, and the terrible, terrible thought she might have forever lost James, Hermione knew it was finally the right time to tell him. "He's your son," she simply said.

James blinked thrice. "Oh," he murmured. He blinked more, this time clear disbelief on his face. "Oh."

"Yeah," she said, cracking a small smile at the expression on his face.

He thickly swallowed, a deep frown now marring his handsome face. "And the mother?"

"It's—"

"No, wait," he groaned, raising a hand to massage his temple. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to know." He expelled a disgruntled breath and met Hermione's eyes. "No wonder you always freaked out because your best friend— My bloody fucking son—"

She sadly smiled at his reaction. "You're not… you're not supposed to love me, James," she softly replied. "I'm from the bloody future. I know everything that's supposed to happen. I've been working tooth and nail to prevent Voldemort from wreaking havoc in the future. I've… I've prevented supposed deaths already, can you believe that? But what I wasn't expecting, among everything I've changed in this whole bloody timeline, is for me to fall in love with you. And for you to love me in return. It wasn't part of the plan. The plan was to make this world a better place for him – for my best friend – but I guess… I guess… My best friend was— He was—"

She paused when he touched her wet cheek, concern in his eyes. "It's okay. You're not ready to talk about him yet," he deliberately said.

Hermione tightly closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I will tell you about him. Soon. Everything. I promise. I promise."

"It's fine, love. But I just want to know one thing," he insisted. When Hermione opened her eyes and met his steely gaze, he continued, "I want to know that you're not going to regret this. At all. I've been mighty patient with you because I love you, Hermione. But… but if you feel like you're going to regret this in the end, maybe asking you to marry me seems like a big step. Or, better yet, maybe we should take some time off away from each other for a while and properly think about how we truly feel. I mean, that's not—"

"Stop," she weakly cried once more. James's clammed up, his eyes wide with unadulterated nervousness. "When I ran away last night, I went to Lily and she made me realise a lot of things. One of which is that if I really want to be truly happy as Hermione Pettigrew, I should let go of my past." She placed a hand against James's cheek and gave him a small smile. "I promise I'm going to tell you about him soon. Everything about him. And what I can promise too is that I won't be pushing you away anymore. Being with you makes me the happiest in this world, James Potter. I should stop… I should stop holding back."

"Yes, you should," he sighed. "You deserve to be happy, Hermione."

"And you," she said, smiling sweetly up at him. "Merlin knows why you found it with me."

The relief on his face almost looked ridiculous and Hermione couldn't help but to laugh. "Okay, all right," he muttered. "So, for the record, you still want to be with me?"

"Yes," she firmly said, unhesitatingly.

The corner of James's lips twitched. "And… you still want to marry me?" he tentatively asked.

"Yes," she replied, her resolve increasing ten-fold.

"You don't think we're being too hasty?" he asked. "I can try to ask you again after a few more weeks… months, if you need more time. Maybe arrange a better date because last night was shite with the bloody storm. And the little fact that you ran away almost immediately after I asked the question. Maybe we should—"

"Stop," she sighed for the umpteenth time. She grinned widely at the sheepish wizard. "I want to marry you, James. We're in the middle of a war with a future that is uncertain, now that I've managed to change its course. If… if things still turned out for the worst, then I'd rather spend the remaining blissful months by your side."

The smile he flashed was almost blinding like the sun outside. "All right and… Merlin, I haven't even had the chance to slip the ring on your finger," he pointed out. James suddenly sat up, his eyes already scanning the room for his wand. His cheeks flushed when he looked down at Hermione. "Maybe you've seen my wand somewhere? My bloody glasses are broken and I can't see a damn thing."

Hermione snorted and sat up too, bringing the comforter against her chest for some semblance of decency. She saw James's wand on the floor not too far away. She bent down to pick it up and gave it to him.

"Accio robes," James said. His grey robes, still a little damp from the storm last night, came hurtling towards him. He caught it deftly in his hands and rummaged inside the pockets. He pulled out the ring box and opened the lid, gingerly grasping the ring from its cushion.

With glittering eyes, he met Hermione's gaze. "Will you marry me, Hermione?" he teasingly asked. But Hermione noted the nervous glint in his eyes, as if afraid she'd bolt out of the room and leave him standing like a fool once again.

"Yes," she vehemently replied, lest she'd come up with another stupid excuse to hurt him. "Yes, I will."

James was grinning broadly when he slipped the sapphire ring on her finger. It fitted her perfectly and as she lifted her hand in the air to admire the ring, the dark blue gemstone twinkled prettily. "It's very beautiful," she said, bringing her hand against her heart.

"I'm glad Mum didn't force me to use the Potter ring," he said, grimacing. "It's bloody atrocious. You should have seen it. I don't know how someone could wear it when the rock on it was as big as a knuckle."

"Well then, I'm glad you've given this to me instead," she said with a laugh.

"It matches your eyes," he said, grasping her other wrist where her sapphire bracelet sat. James brought her hand against his lips and pressed a gentle kiss.

Hermione's smile turned fond, wounding her arm around his neck to give him a kiss. The blanket fluttered down to her lap as she wrapped her other arm around his neck, pressing him closer to herself. James softly groaned and laid her down on the bed, bracing his arms against the side of her head to keep himself from crushing her.

"I hope you're not hungry yet, Whiskers," he huskily replied in between kisses pressed along her jaw. "I don't plan on letting you leave yet."

Hermione released a sound that was a mixture of a laugh and a gasp, wordlessly wrapping her legs around his hips in reply.

A/N: Lol, I'm more of a fluff-kind of author and writing smut is bloody hard for me so yeah hahaha.

I'm not sure if you've noticed it, but I made Lily's character as such so that she'd be Harry's counterpart in Hermione Pettigrew's life. The first time they met on the train, Hermione instantly thought that Lily had Harry's warmth and smile after all. So, I just thought it's fitting that the blessing Hermione desperately needed from Harry would be given by Lily, because obviously Harry had no means to give it to her. Lol yeah okay I'm rambling again.

Lastly, to be really honest with all of you, this fanfic is now stressing me out more than making me happy. You know the feeling when you're dreading a huge report you've worked really hard on but still afraid of botching it up? Yeah, just like that. I started writing this fic because I was frustrated with how little the amount of decent, multi-chapter Jamione fanfics. I wrote this fic because I wanted to be happy. I really love how everything turned out, so it didn't surprise me when I got so emotionally invested with this fic. Which is a very, very, very bad thing for me, because now I'm second-guessing the decisions I've made for this fic. Y'all legit scare me with your reviews now hahaha. I flinch a little when I see a new notif. I appreciate that you're still reading this, and maybe I'm going to be bold here in assuming you're emotionally invested in this fic too ahaha. But yes, this fic is now adding stress when it's supposed to be my mental break. I'm just glad that this fic only has a few chapters left until the end so that I can finally have some peace of mind and heart. You're all lovely with your reviews (glowing and constructive and maybe a bit… harsh?) but holy schanps, you can be really terrifying hahahaha. Good thing I'm trained to withstand these kinds of mental stress lmao. But yeah, I'm just excited for this fic to end.

Oh wow, this A/N is so long. Better stop now ahaha. See you tomorrow.

With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe

P.S. Follow me on tumblr (kimmy-writes).