Lori held out for about a week before she grew too impatient with the lack of information from her best friend. She had always been like that.

"Let's talk about the elephant in the room," she demanded when they were doing their homework in the library.

"Hm?"

"James your soulmate Potter."

"Nothing to tell, Lori."

Lori snorted, "Of course not. Don't think I didn't notice your daydreaming or - more importantly - the fact that you were drawing more in the past week than you did this whole semester."

Hermione sighed. She had hoped Lori wouldn't notice her increase in drawing, but she had to let out her emotions somewhere. Preferably not in the immediate vicinity of James Potter.

They had managed to talk to each other almost every day. Every time he had approached her when she least expected it. It seemed like he had figured out her pattern of avoidance and took advantage of it.

It had always ended in her glaring silently at him, almost hexing him or walking away.

She really wasn't in the mood to talk it through right now. Why was Lori harassing her about James bloody Potter, right now? They had a Potions essay to finish and Transfiguration to practice for.

But of course, Hermione couldn't help herself.

"I couldn't care less about him. Just last night we had another argument- "

"Banter," Lori whispered quietly, but Hermione didn't notice her.

" - and right in the middle of it he just tells me he loves to make the brown of my eyes sparkle like they do when I'm angry, which was kind of nice I guess…I mean, he did compliment my eyes, but he also said he wants to make me angry, I mean…what is that?" She took a breath and shook her head," So I guess, he can be nice if he wants to be, but let's be honest, that's almost never. Most of the time, I just want to wring his scrawny little broad-shouldered neck and kick his stupid nicely shaped behind and after that, back to his neck to pull that stupid red tie tight and see his eyes widen just a little with doubt if I might actually do it."

"Well, that escalated quickly." Lori deadpanned but was secretly elated about what she was hearing, "I think Slytherin lost a member of their house to us."

"Oh shut it, you know what I mean." Hermione waved her off, "He's just so frustrating. He's such a talented wizard but he uses that talent to prank people and annoy them. I just don't get it. Also, why does he keep playing with that little yellow snitch? He's a bloody chaser!"

"Mmhmm…so, what's the colour of his eyes?"

"Hazel of course, why do you ask?" Hermione replied still trying to write her essay to no avail.

"Hermione."

"Lori, please. We have to finish this before our free period is over." Hermione looked up at the noise coming from her friend and saw Lori grinning like a Cheshire cat, "Your grin is starting to look creepy. Why are you squealing? Do you want to be kicked out by Madam Pince?"

"He loves you."

"Excuse me?"

"And you love him."

"Who?" Hermione frowned.

"James."

"What?!" Hermione shrieked.

"Quiet!" Madame Pince snapped out of nowhere, standing suddenly right behind her and they flinched.

Both girls waited until the librarian had disappeared again.

"What are you talking about, Lori?" Hermione hissed.

"It's obvious. It's the eyes, Hermione! You can both see each others eyes."

Hermione was dumbstruck.

"You're joking."

Lori's smile widened even further.

"Lori, tell me you're joking. This isn't funny."

"I'm very much serious. Ask your aunt…again. The reason you can see the colour of his eyes and he yours is that you love each other."

"This is ridiculous. I'm not in love with him. I don't love him." Hermione murmured while Lori just smiled.

Both girls returned to their homework, although Hermione didn't manage that much, her mind running circles around James Potter and the conversation she had had with her aunt right before starting Hogwarts.

Later that day after dinner, Lori and Hermione made themselves comfortable in the common room in front of the fireplace. Out of habit they had also thrown up a silencing spell around them. The Gryffindor common room was a gossipy place after all.

"I really don't like him," Hermione said after not even three minutes of staring to the other side of the room where the Marauders were lounging.

"You know that's a lie."

"I just don't. How can someone like him be my soulmate? That's just stupid. We don't fit. Just look at him!" Hermione gestured to the corner, "See! I told you, throwing that bloody snitch again…Didn't I had take that from him?"

"We just figured out that you guys love each other. How can you say you don't like him?"

"I never confirmed such a thing, Lori. You just assumed."

"Oh, please. You know bloody well what eye colour means."

"Stop cursing!"

Lori just raised her eyebrows at that unnecessary and very hypocritical comment.

Hermione groaned, "Fine, I like him…but I also don't. Come on, it's not fair!"

"Stop complaining!" Lori snapped with narrowed eyes, "You actually found your soulmate. You know you fit together. You're just scared of it, because it means you have to share your life with someone else and adjust to him. There are people who feel like they will never find their soulmate and I was one of them. Just like you before this started."

Lori looked to the flames dancing in the fireplace. There was a beat of silence between them before Hermione hung her head.

"Before I found Kingsley I really didn't believe I would find my soulmate, at all. Now that I have, I can't believe that you would be so unbelievably reluctant about yours. Come on, Hermione!"

"I'm sorry, Lori," Hermione skidded closer to her friend and took her hand, "I'm being selfish and ungrateful. You're right, I am lucky to have found mine and yes, I am scared."

Lori squeezed Hermione'd hand but otherwise didn't move.

"I'm also…insecure."

"Why?"

"He hasn't said anything about it, has he? I know it's true…that I lo-…well you know. So why hasn't he said anything? It feels like he's dancing around it."

Lori sighed and rolled her eyes before turning to her friend.

"Probably for the same reasons you can't even say the words out loud right now. Have you ever considered that he might be feeling insecure, too?"

Hermione couldn't help the snort that escaped her. Lori raised her eyebrows.

"You keep riling him up and shutting his advances down. Of course, he hasn't come out and said that he loves you. Even with the security of being soulmates, it's scary to come clean about your feelings for someone; especially to that someone. I don't think your hostility makes him feel very confident in telling you his."

"Fuck…You're right."

"Language. And I'm always right."

Hermione childishly stuck out her tongue, because she didn't know what else to say. She could be so freaking bullheaded sometimes.

Lori turned back to the flames and Hermione felt immense guilt. Her friend had always been there for her, even during the time they had lived in different countries and here she was making Lori feel bad by complaining about something that should actually be beautiful.

She leaned her head on Lori's shoulder and watched the flames with her.

"I love you, Lori."

Lori sighed again and let her head drop down on Hermione's with a little more force than necessary.

"Ow," Hermione murmured.

"You deserved it, you ungrateful witch. And I love you, too."

Hermione laughed and could feel Lori smiling.

"You should go talk to him."

"Now?" Hermione couldn't keep the nervous edge out of her voice and raised her head.

"No, you wimp. Now is best-friend-time. Put your head back. We will bask in the glory that is our love until you go to your new one and leave me alone in the cold."

"Lori!"

"Relax, I'm joking," Lori laughed and Hermione knew they were okay, "But seriously, I need more cuddles."

Right across the room was a similar conversation happening.

"Should I tell her? She's pretty much annoyed by me all day every day. I might get slapped, or hexed- "

" -or snogged. Don't leave out the least likely one."

"Thanks, Moony. That really makes me feel better."

"Anytime, James." Remus grinned, then paused before asking in a more sober tone, "How many colours can you see?"

James' eyes focused on the red armchairs they were sitting on. Red had been the first colour he had been able to see. It had started at the Halloween Feast. That prank had gone spectacularly wrong and he had been faced with his entire house being mad at him, in addition to two other houses.

At first, he hadn't known who it was, that triggered the soulmate colours. His whole house - well technically almost the entire school - had shown a range of emotions that were directed at him. However, there had been one girl, who had crept back into his mind. Her eyes had been so expressive, the disappointment so glaringly obvious, even though he wasn't able to see their colour. There had been a fascinating mix of emotions on her face, too. Naturally, he hadn't made the connection immediately, because as Sirius loved to tell him, he had the attention span of a fly, coupled with the observational skills of Professor Binns. Bit exaggerated, obviously.

Hermione Granger had seemingly come out of nowhere. Of course, he had heard about McGonagall's niece finishing her schooling here but he had never actually paid attention to her, or seen her for that matter. It was like she had intentionally hidden from him…which she actually had come to think of it.

"Why do I always get bad colours, though?" He voiced his thoughts out loud.

"There are bad colours?" Sirius joined in making himself comfortable in Remus's arms.

"Yeah, like coral and lavender and yellow-green. Really don't like them."

"So, I'm guessing these colours are tied to negative emotions? Lavender isn't a bad colour, though."

"It is when she's disgusted with me."

"Wow, what did you do?"

"She caught me levitating a flobberworm into Becky Campbell's cup."

"Prongs, pull yourself together. That is disgusting and childish. You're better at pranks, usually." Remus sighed but Sirius moved to give James a high five.

"Shut it, Moony. Doesn't she feel something positive for me? I'm pretty sure she's only ever angry, disappointed or disgusted," James moaned.

"You can't tell me you're not seeing any nice colours. You talk to her all the time now."

"All the time is saying a bit much…but yeah, I guess it's more often now."

James thought about it for a moment. There had been that moment in the Three Broomsticks, when he had been able to see her purple scarf. He liked purple and she had seemed embarrassed about it. He could also see pink - light pink - like her blush. Her skin, he could definitely see the lovely mix of olive and light brown, although that seemed to lighten more and more.

"Mhmm, that's what I thought." Remus nodded at James's silence.

"Do you feel positive emotions toward her?" Sirius piped up.

"Loads!" James answer came out as a shout.

"Alright, relax mate. I'm just asking." Sirius put his hands up in a placating gesture.

"I like her a lot. She's freaking smart and funny and she's loyal. Look at Russel and her. They're inseparable and they always have each other's backs, as we do. She's also tiny, which is fucking hot and adorable at the same time. It's like I can prevent anything bad from happening to her, if I just put my arm around her; but I could also lift her up and carry her to wherever I want to. It's also really convenient to just rest my arm on her, which is probably where the bright neon green stems from. She's always annoyed when I do it. Don't get me started on how beautiful she is. That hair…It's like every time I talk to her there's a different shade of brown in it. I just want to grab it. It's so freaking soft…also want to smell it."

"Mate, that's the deer talking." Sirius teased him.

"I'm a stag, you little pooch."

"Hey! Huge dog, thank you very much."

"You're a huge wanker."

"True."

"Guys," Remus sighed.

"The most beautiful thing about her are her eyes though," James continued unperturbed, "It's such a fascinating shade of brown."

"You got it bad, mate."

James sucked in a breath and looked across the room to his soulmate, "Yeah, I do."

The next morning Lori and Hermione were sitting on one of the sofas, talking about Mrs Russell's delicious tattle scones and how the Hogwarts elves didn't manage them quite that tasty. It was slowly getting close to Christmas and they both missed their families.

On the other sofa sat James drumming his fingers on his knee, waiting for Sirius. Peter and Remus had already left about half an hour ago.

Lori elbowed Hermione in the ribs and nodded very noticeably to James, but Hermione just shot her a warning look.

"Ugh, seriously," Lori whispered, but then spotted Sirius strolling down the stairs of the dormitory and she had that particular look in her eyes, that didn't bode well for Hermione.

"Oi, Black! Black!" She called and jumped up to meet him halfway.

Hermione's bad feeling intensified.

"Russell? What's up?" Sirius stopped, putting one hand leisurely in his pocket.

"Where's your boyfriend? I need to talk to him about the patrol schedule. You're going to help me find him," Lori declared.

"Hold up. Why do you need me for that? Just go look for him yourse-…Ow! Why does everybody keep hitting me?!" Sirius mumbled rubbing his arm.

Lori rolled her eyes and subtly pointed to Hermione and James who looked like two piles of misery.

Sirius groaned quietly, "Why are they making it so hard?"

"I know, right?" Lori agreed, "Let's just go and leave them to themselves. I had a talk with Hermione last night. I'm sure she's going to say something to him."

"Fine, but we are actually going to look for Remus. I feel unloved after that fierce attack from you." Sirius pouted.

"How does he not strangle you daily?"

"Who says he doesn't?" Sirius replied with a wink and marched off.

Lori spluttered.

"Lori?!" Hermione called alarmed, when her friend followed Sirius to the portrait hole.

"Sirius is helping me look for Remus. Have a few things to talk to him about. You know, Prefect stuff."

"But-,"

"We'll go eat something later. Bye!" Lori waved and exited the common room.

Hermione huffed annoyed. Lori had had every opportunity to talk to Remus half a freaking hour ago.

The common room was almost deserted. Most of the students were already down at breakfast or outside on the grounds enjoying the new snow.

"You know…we could go down together to eat," James offered from beside her, having seated himself next to her.

Hermione didn't turn to him. She still had Lori's advice from the night before ringing in her head.

She was being ridiculous. Her freaking soulmate was sitting next to her. Someone who she had longed to find for years and here she was denying him and herself this magical thing. What was wrong with her?

She finally turned and took him in.

He was wearing a green sweater today. She had been able to see the colour for a while now and ever since she had heard him tell Sirius he trusted her, she knew why. His trousers were beige, which stemmed from annoyance. He had been really annoyed with her a few days ago when she had taken his snitch from him.

And his eyes…

She turned her head and focused on her hands folded in her lap.

"I could actually see them as a kid, you know? colours, I mean. I had a lot of colouring books and I used to love drawing, but when I was around four or five years old they vanished. All the colours were suddenly gone and I couldn't recall how they looked."

"You could actually see them? What was it like?" James leaned closer, eager to hear about it.

"…colourful, I guess? I told you I don't remember how they look." She said with more emphasis than was strictly necessary.

"Right, sorry. Got carried away for a bit."

"I did continue to draw," she continued hesitantly, "just not with coloured pens, although I wouldn't have been able to tell either way. It wasn't the same. I missed it. I used to dream about finding my soulmate all the time, because I wanted them back."

There was an awkward pause between them.

"Look, I think we've danced around this topic long enough. We're soulmates, we can see lots of colours already, at least I can. I know what I feel, so I know you can see them, too. Why make such a big deal or even secret out of it?" James said candidly.

"I don't know," Hermione answered truthfully. "I think it was just about seeing colours again, you know? As bad as it sounds, I didn't really care about who would be my soulmate at first, but when I finally realized, that it was…you…I don't know. I just couldn't see it. We're so different. I annoy you, you annoy me. It didn't make sense in my head."

He was silent for so long, that she had to look up again.

"Every soulmate pair is different, because every person is different. Remus and Sirius are frustrated by the other one all the time. My mom has a scary temper and my dad balances her out. We won't know how we fit together until we try, Hermione," James paused and examined her face, "Don't you want to try?"

Instead of answering him, she pulled out her wand and flicked it towards the stairs to the girl's dormitory. A piece of paper came flying towards them after a few seconds and she caught it.

"I drew this the week after we had that conversation in the three broomsticks…actually, I drew it the night after Sirius locked us in that room together."

She handed the paper to him and his mouth fell open. It was a moving portrait of him, probably in class. He was supporting his face with his hand and had a quill in his mouth, which he kept chewing on. It wasn't the fact how accurate the portrayal looked that affected him so much, although it was very impressive. No, it was the fact that he was entirely in colour and he could see all of them himself.

One thing, in particular, made him feel warmth in his stomach that spread all through his body.

"My eyes…," he whispered.

"Yeah."

"That day seems so long ago, now. Why didn't you say anything?" James wanted to know.

"Why didn't you?" Hermione countered, "I'm sure you've been able to see mine for a while, as well."

He sighed, "You'd think having a soulmate would make dating easier."

"Yeah, well...turns out it's actually more difficult."

"Yeah…" James looked at the drawing again, "It's…I look very handsome."

She rolled her eyes but met his when he looked up again, "You are."

James blushed. Hermione took the drawing from him and put it behind her on the sofa. When she was facing him again, she stretched out her hand to cup his cheek as she had done once before. This time when he put his hand over hers and moved closer she didn't pull away. She repeated the lines she had drawn in the pub and enjoyed the feel of his skin against her fingertips.

"What now?" He asked quietly, his breath ghosting over her lips and cheeks.

"Well…I would very much like to kiss you," Hermione confessed bravely, "May I?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He whispered looking at her mouth. He didn't wait for her reply before pressing his lips to hers.

If seeing colours was like fireworks - exciting and bright - this kiss felt like the cool calmness of the dark sea. It was an unhurried kiss, something to cherish and build upon. It felt almost forbidden. His lips were surprisingly soft and warm, which was such an interesting contrast to the cool she associated with it. He was moving against her and with her and she felt it all the way to her toes and fingertips.

Her hands were still cupping his face, but his had moved to the back of her neck and her waist and the little sparks that shot through her at the contact were delicious.

The moment his tongue touched her lower lip the coolness was disturbed by a hot flame. She opened her mouth to him immediately and welcomed his tongue with her own. She hadn't planned on deepening the kiss, but she never wanted to stop. He stoked the fire inside her with every stroke of his tongue and the flame grew bigger and bigger.

It was washed away again by the coolness of the sea, when he withdrew slightly and pressed chaste kisses against her closing lips, before pulling back completely.

Both of them had their eyes still closed and were breathing a little harder; their foreheads touching.

"I'd dreamed about this," James murmured quietly, his breath washed over her and dried her wet lips with a teasing prickle. "Reality is so much better."

Hermione opened her eyes and met his hazel ones. "I have to agree with that."

She leaned forward again and kissed him one, two, three times before pulling back again with a smirk that mirrored his own.

"I don't think I can get enough of this, "James said his gaze focused on her lips still, "Why have we waited so long to do this?"

"Fucking finally! That's what we all want to know, " Remus' voice broke them apart, "Oh sorry, carry on."

Sirius laughed next to him, putting his weight on Peter who was struggling to hold his own laughter in.

Lori was shaking her head at the two Marauders beside her but was grinning all the while. "About time. Now, can we go get something to eat?"

Hermione refused to acknowledge her blush. James nudged his nose to hers before getting up and holding out a hand to her. She let herself be pulled up. Their friends had turned towards the portrait hole and were already outside by the time Hermione pulled James hand to make him stop.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a frown.

"Nothing at all. I…I love you."

His eyes dilated slightly and he sucked in a breath. Then his smirk returned.

"Well, I kind of figured that, what with the eye colour and all."

She hit his arm hard.

"Ow! Bloody Hell witch, you pack a punch. You don't even give a bloke time to tell you he loves you, too. Always with these violent acts." He rubbed his arm begrudgingly.

She felt guilty, but only slightly. The predominant feeling, however, was pure and utter joy.

"I want to see you smile like that all the time," James declared and leaned down to kiss her once more.

This angle brought a new flood of emotions and feelings to the kiss. She had to push up on her toes to meet his lips and his strong arm around her waist helped her those last few inches up to reach him. They lost all sense of time to the movement of their lips and tongues.

"Oi, you two love birds! We get it, we've all been there. Now, get going. You can't make everyone wait for food as long as you two have for that kiss!"

There was a thump followed by a yelp and dark laughter.

"Why do I always get hit?!"

James threw Hermione a devilish smirk after releasing her lips and pulled her with him towards their friends.

She wasn't sure if she could be happier if she tried.