A/N: Sooo, it's been about 3 weeks since my last update, I'd say I'm keeping my once-a-month-update promise. Also I'm in a good mood. Why? I'll tell you: I'M GOING TO SEE BTS IN PARIS THIS WEEKEND! So yeah, I'm in a good mood and wanted to give you guys an update ^^ I'm sorry if there are any mistakes but enjoy!

Sirius had moved them, had taken a seat on the sofa in front of the fire. Hermione was still in his arms, clinging to him, crying. He had started to rub her back, trying to calm her down. He had started saying 'Shhh, it's okay' and from time to time he would rock a little back and forth, hoping it would help in some kind of way.

The others had also taken a seat, not knowing what else to do. It was the first time this had happened. They wanted to comfort her but they didn't know how. They didn't know what exactly had been the main factor that had made her cry so they didn't know what to fix. Plus, Sirius was already trying to get her to calm down. You can't possibly calm down a person by crowding around them with six other people at the same time. So they sat there and watched the pair.

Finally, no one knew how much time had passed, Hermione calmed down. Her sobs turning into hiccups before stopping completely. Yet, she didn't let go of Sirius. She wasn't quite sure why she couldn't but it felt like she needed this right now, like he anchored her. So she just stayed like that.

"I'm sorry." Hermione had said it so softly that for a moment they thought they had imagined it. When they realized she had really said it, they shot into action.

"No, it's fine."

"No need to worry."

"Just forget it."

Everyone was talking at the same time, trying to reassure her. But the person who stood out was Sirius. He kept holding her and said in soft voice, "It's okay, love." Where the pet name came from, he didn't know. He only knew that it came just so naturally in that moment and that it felt right. Just that, nothing more.

After a little more fussing from the others, she eventually pulled back from the hug. Lily was next to her in less than a second and took the brunette's hands in her own, rubbing her thumb over them.

"Everything okay?" she asked softly. Hermione just nodded in response. "No more crying?" This made Hermione let out a small chuckle.

"No more crying," she said with a small smile.

"Good." And as she said it, she squeezed the witch's hand, getting a squeeze in return.

"So, what happened there?" Peter asked a little hesitantly. He was met with different looks as if asking 'really now?' and an elbow to the ribs from James.

"Peter," Remus said calmly, though trying to convey that it wasn't the time to ask.

"No, it's okay," Hermione said. She took a deep breath and said, "I guess it was all just a little overwhelming, a little too much."

At this everyone turned to look at Sirius, almost like blaming him. He wanted to ask what he had done but he knew. He was angry and had just let it all out, so he stayed silent.

Hermione, seeing this, said, "No, no, it wasn't Sirius." Everyone just looked at her in question, including Sirius. "Well, not entirely anyway. Of course it was partly the fault of what just happened but also something else. Several things more actually."

There was a small pause and then, "Even though he was angry, he reminded me of my friends back home. He made me miss them more than I already do."

"Okay, how exactly? By getting mad?" was Marlene's answer.

"Yeah." More confused looks. "My friends would also always get mad when someone called me a –" Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, she stopped mid-sentence. Even though that same evening she had argued to do otherwise. But she was tired of arguing, she was drained. "When someone would call me by that term they would get so mad. They wouldn't leave it alone and more often than not the person who had called me that name would be jinxed or get pranked in some way or another." Only thinking about it, made her laugh a little.

"I like them already," James said with a glint in his eyes. If he only knew.

"I bet you do," she answered.

"So what are they like? Your friends back home?" Lily asked, curious.

"Well, I guess I can describe them best by saying that they are like a mix of everyone here. They like pranks though they don't often pull pranks themselves. Well, except for the twins."

"The twins?"

"Oh, the ones you told me about during Halloween? Fred and George?"

"Yeah, them. They were amazing when it came to pranks and making people laugh. Harry and Ron just loved watching them do it though. And somehow they always managed to break the rules or get a professor mad, even if they didn't mean to. And of course, I was pulled into it right with them." She shook her head a little in amusement. "More importantly though was that they couldn't stand if someone was hurt – physically or emotionally – by someone else. They would always defend them, would always defend me."

"I'm glad you have friends like that. I'm sorry you have to miss them but you have us here," the redhead told her, sincere, content to hear her talk about her friends like that. She really was opening up more.

"Harry and Ron?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, they're my two best friends ever since our first year. Though that hasn't always been the case."

"Harry? Is he the person you confused me with that first time we met?" James asked. This was met with confused and questioning looks from the others.

"Huh?" Hermione asked. She knew that had happened but she had hoped he would have forgotten about it. But no, he had to remember and bring it up. Maybe if she played dumb she could get herself out of it. unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Yeah, that first day you got here back in September. You kept calling me Harry and then said that you confused me with someone else."

"Oh, that did happen, didn't it? Well, you two just look a lot alike. And yeah he's my best friend and the person I mistook you for."

They stopped talking about the issue after that. And though she didn't see it, the marauders had given each other a look. They hadn't forgotten their conversation a few months ago. The conversation about her biggest fear, about the person looking like James. They remembered it clearly.

Just before the girls were going to bed, Hermione turned back to the boys and said, "I'm sorry."

It took a second to figure out what she was talking about. The argument between her and Sirius.

"It's okay."

"Yeah, no harm done."

"I just hope you've learned your lesson," Sirius said. It was said in a slightly teasing tone as to not cause another argument but when she looked him in the eyes she saw just how serious he was.

"No need to worry. I learned." And with that the girls were off to bed. Yet it didn't mean that they all fell asleep immediately. Hermione couldn't talk for the other girls but she was wide awake, too many thoughts running around in her head to just close her eyes and fall asleep.

What had she done? She had just broken down, just started crying and clinging to the person closest to her? She had been vulnerable. Something she had told herself to avoid at all costs, it only meant that she would get more attached. She needed to keep a certain distance. And not only that. She had told them so much that evening. She had told them about the twins and what was worse, she had told them about Harry and Ron. She had told them about her best friends and to make it worse one of them was the son of Lily and James, though they didn't even know that because they hadn't even got together yet. She only hoped that she hadn't messed up the timeline too much by what had happened tonight.

She wasn't the only one awake and thinking. The marauders were doing the exact same thing.

"So it seems that Harry really just looks like James," Remus told them.

"Yeah, but still it's weird. From what I remembered he looks exactly like James. I mean the similarities were just weird."

"You've said that already, Pads," Remus said in amusement.

"There is one thing I don't understand though."

"What's that?"

"If Harry is her best friend then why is he also her biggest fear?"

"There were two people, right? When she stood in front of the boggart? Harry and that ginger guy, could he be Ron?"

"I mean it's a possibility. So, if they are her best friends then why are they indeed also her greatest fear?"

There was silence following those observations.

"I feel like things aren't matching up, like we're missing several pieces of a puzzle. But I don't know what exactly." Remus was thinking and thinking and then even more thinking. He kept going over certain events that had happened the past few months, certain things she had or hadn't said. He kept thinking and rethinking but he just got nowhere. No matter from which angle he approached the matter he always got stuck.

Not getting anywhere, they just decided to leave it be for the night. Merlin knew they could use the sleep after the day they had had.

The days after that everything seemed to be back to normal, though the first couple of days the marauders had been a little calmer than usual. They probably were a little more considerate towards Hermione, not wanting to risk upsetting her again.

But soon the pranks picked up again. And of course the slytherins had to pay for that, more specifically Snape. Though Hermione knew Snape turned into the adult that he was partly because of the marauders, she couldn't quite bring up the effort to feel sympathy. As long as the pranks didn't go too far, as long as they weren't hurting someone, she just let them do what they wanted.

Obviously, the teasing didn't stop outside the classrooms. They had potions and the marauders just kept making comments. But what was so bad about that? Well, normally speaking nothing but this wasn't just any potions class. Oh no, they were trying to make amortentia. A few people had smelled the example which Slughorn had made himself but seeing as it smelled different to anyone that smelled it, he had just put them to work. If they followed the recipe correctly step by step, they would know if they succeeded or not because they would smell what attracted them most.

Now you could ask what for comments this info got out of the four pranksters. Simple, they just saw it as a chance to tease each other. They mostly made comments like 'But what if you don't smell anything that has to do with Evans?' or 'Imagine smelling something that has to do with Snivellus'. That last statement was clearly followed by faces of disgust. But they just kept going.

Lily and Hermione shared a work station, focussing, paying attention to every little detail. Just like they did in every other class.

When Lily was finished, she smelled her potion. She scrunched her nose a little. Turning to Hermione she asked if she could give it a sniff. "What do you smell?"

Hermione breathed in a few times, taking in the different scents. "I smell parchment, fresh-mown grass and –" She sniffed once more. "I can't really define what else I smell. I know I smell something else but I can't put a name on it." Lily just hummed.

"Why? What did you smell?"

"Well, see, I guess I made a mistake because there is also a scent I can't name properly. And I just thought I managed to brew it perfectly. Well, nothing else I can do, class is about to end so I'll just put some of this in a flask and hand it in."

Hermione was just about done brewing the potion. She smelled at it but she got the same as she did with Lily.

"Lily, can you come smell this real quick?"

"Sure." The redhead breathed in the fumes of the so-called love potion and said, "I smell roses, the scent of new books and –" She faltered. "That's strange, it's that scent I got with mine, the one I can't name."

"I got that too. Does it mean we made the same mistake?"

"That's hardly possible though. Right?" They just looked at each other quizzically.

They went to hand in their flasks together, Slughorn curious about how they had managed. They weren't two of his best students for nothing. He uncorked Lily's flask first and took a sniff, only to do the same with Hermione's a moment later

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I hadn't expected anything less of course, from such two talented students."

"Perfect?" Both witches asked at the same time. "We didn't make a mistake?"

"A mistake? Why would you think that?"

"Well – " Lily started.

"It's just – "Hermione tried.

Slughorn arched a brow, urging them to go on.

"We just smelled a scent that we couldn't quite place, couldn't quite name so we just assumed that we had made a mistake," Lily explained a little hesitantly.

"Oh," he said, letting out a small chuckle. "That happens sometimes, no need to worry about that."

"It does? Why?"

"If one can't place a scent or put a name to it, it means that the scents a person is attracted to is changing. As we grow older and experience more things, there are things that will stay the same and things that will change. It's just like that with the scents you're attracted to. It can mean that you're starting to like a scent or that it's vanishing because you just are no longer attracted to it. It's not something life changing or important, really."

"It's not?"

"No, it's perfectly normal actually. Now, off you go, class is over." And with that they left the classroom, still thinking a little about what Slughorn had just told them.

Hermione had smelled amortentia in her own timeline. There she was certain that the third scent she had smelt had been mint toothpaste. If that scent wasn't there now, did that mean she no longer was attracted to that scent or simply that she liked something else better now? And what was that scent? She only recognized it vaguely, not enough to give it a place. Where had she smelled that?