Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies.

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN RE-WRITTEN!

A/N: Okay, so I realized that this past chapter was quite horrible, despite all the applause I recieved by many reviewers. But I know Hermione was completely OOC in that last chapter, so I've taken the time to go through and slightly change chapter three - and it came out rather nice in my opinion. She's more herself, I believe, and it puts a different air on the whole chapter. Read if you wish, don't read if you don't want to. If you wish to review, but can't, maybe try the anonymous way, but I don't think it will matter if you do or don't - I should have the fourth chapter up sometime next week. Thanks for the critism guys - it really helps. - Min

Thanks Saz-646, Viktor Krum's lazyllama101, X-JANKEY-X, cassi, Kersies, LunaLovegoss, WhiteTwitch, Kill-All-Flamers, Reanne1102, and Aria DeLoncray for all the wonderful reviews!

Hands are Meant to Hold

By: xScenex
a.k.a. Min

Chapter Three

That night, James had stayed at the shop for over two hours with Hermione, joking around and having a good time all by himself, while Hermione tried to ignore him half the time, but to no avail. She was quite annoyed and tired by the time he left to go back to the castle when the storm calmed down, but the girl was also a bit happy that he had been there - though she wouldn't have admitted that.

Days started to pass, and Hermione was beginning to wonder if James would come back. She was slightly relieved that he hadn't returned to the shop yet, but deep down inside, she was kind of disappointed.

Ever since that night when Harry's father had come to the bookshop, Hermione had begun questioning why she was back in time twenty years. Could her falling back in time have happened originally and she had never had any clue to her other 'self'? Was that even possible?

Even for her, it was all confusing. She even contemplated about going to Dumbledore a few times, but she was determined to figure the problem out on her own - she wasn't the 'Gryffindor know-it-all' for nothing, right? She decided that she would only go to Hogwarts Headmaster if things begun to get drastic.

The days and nights went by as if in slow motion, and after a seemingly long week, Hermione found herself walking along the path leading to the shrieking shack.

It was cool outside, and the sun was just beginning to dip down behind the surrounding mountains and trees. The sky was painted crimson and orange, with a tint of pink, and a few white, puffy clouds floated idly about.

Hermione walked down the path, listening to her footsteps and the faint calls of the night birds around the surrounding vicinity. A few owls even swooped down, hunting for their evening meal.

It only took a few minutes for the girl to find herself looking at the old house beyond the fence. It was one of the only places she could go to for comfort - not that it was supposed to bring her comfort, as it was apparently the most haunted house in Britain. But in an odd, twisted way, the events that would take place in the future there held her to that spot. It was her only link to her old life, with Harry, Ron, Ginny, her parents, and everyone else she cared deeply about. Well, besides Hogwarts, but she couldn't just visit there.

She could simply call it her safe haven for the time being, where she could just sit under a random tree and watch the stars come out and frame the sky with glitter.

That's exactly what she was doing that night. She settled herself down on the sloping hill so that she could get an overall look at the shack, and even part of the forbidden forest.

All worries and thoughts slowly drifted away from her mind as she allowed the peaceful surroundings to filter them out.

The girl wrapped her arms around her knee's with her chin propped up on them and sighed heavily. It was beautiful outside, as the sun began to set. The surrounding area was slowly beginning to darken, and stars began to shine above. The wind picked up a bit, allowing a small breeze to ruffle the long blades of grass and the large leaves of the many surrounding trees.

The girl was so at peace that she didn't hear footsteps approaching.

"Hey, what's she doing out here?"

Hermione jumped at the sudden sound of voices - but what was more surprising was that she'd heard that voice before.

"Well, obviously, she's out here to look at the Shrieking Shack," another voice that Hermione had become familiar with nights before spoke loudly, causing her to whip around to see the two figures.

Behind her, James Potter and Sirius Black stood lazily higher up the slope, staring at her.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked, irritated. She didn't like being snuck up on - she'd had too many run-ins in her old life and was quiet annoyed that she hadn't heard the two of them approach. Although, she never had been great at the whole 'defense' thing. That was Harry's job.

"Well, we came here to enjoy the scenery," James said and he strode forward and plopped himself down on the grass beside her. "Isn't that obvious?"

Hermione scowled slightly, "You shouldn't be out of school."

"Ah, come on," Sirius pouted as he walked forward too, but went past them so that he could lean over the fence. "Don't be such a spoil-sport."

She huffed, annoyed by Sirius. She had never really favored the guy out of all people, even before he died. Not that she had anything against him - she just thought he was a hypocrite sometimes. He'd always tell Harry that if one really wanted to know what a man was really like, 'look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.' In Hermione's opinion, he had acted arrogant and mean towards his 'inferiors', which by going with his advice, showed her who he really was on the inside. Or maybe it was just because she didn't understand the guy...

"Hey, what's the look for?" he scrunched his nose up a bit. Hermione just shook her head and looked away. "Prongs, I thought you said that this bird was one of the best you'd met. I don't see what you were saying - are you sure this is her?"

Once again, the girl gave him an annoyed look but also turned her attention to James. "What did you say to him about me?"

James gulped, his eyes darting about fearfully, "Uh, I uh…"

Sirius stormed over, arms crossed against his chest, "He said that you were one of the best bird's he'd ever met. And that's saying something - it's hard to get him rambling on about some girl, especially if he'd only just met her. He's never spoken so much about one girl - including Evans! Evans for Merlin's sake!"

"Shut up, you prat," James mumbled, ruffling his hair up in embarrassment. Hermione didn't notice though, as her mind suddenly shifted to the thought of Harry's mother. Was 'Evan's' Harry's mother? Wasn't her name Lily Evans? "Look, don't listen to him, he's just jealous because he can't get a girl to go out with him at the moment. It's the longest he's been single in about three months."

Hermione's eyebrows rose, "And how often does his girlfriends change?"

"About twice a week, if he's feeling generous," James stated and earned a whack upside the head by his friend.

"How crude," she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "I don't see how anyone would go for you if you do that. Women are more than items."

"I know that," James said quietly.

"I don't really care," was Sirius' response. "A bird is a bird."

Hermione set a piercing glare on him and he actually winced a bit. He hurried tomake amends,"Not that I'm talking about you, of course. You're different, obviously."

Hermione rolled her eyes again, moving the conversation away from girls, "Does anyone know you've left the school?"

"No," they both said simultaneously and cracked into identical grins.

"What would happen if someone found out?"

"We'd have detention with Filch for about a month," Sirius shrugged.

"Oh, then you wont mind me telling someone?" Hermione questioned jokingly, feeling slightly irritated by the boys. The company was alright, but she just felt uneasy in the presence of two of the most infamous Marauders. How could she ever tell Harry about it if there ever was a possible way for her to back to her time?

"NO!" James cried, waving his arms about and obviously missing her humor, "Please! Don't do that!"

"She's evil, Prongs," Sirius whined, eyes large with fright of being caught out of school, "What do you see in her?"

"Padfoot, shut it," James huffed, finally catching the amused look on the girl's face. "She's only joking around.. I think?"

"You'd be wise to listen to your friend," Hermione said to Sirius, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Or if you just want to do what you will, by all means, go ahead. Just, use your brain - the absence of it may get you thrown into Azkaban someday."

"Like that would ever happen," he rolled his eyes and a feeling of saddness overtook Hermione's feelings at the irony of his statement. "Look, James, sorry to break it to you, but I don't find this interesting at all. I'm outta' here. You'll find me in Jonko's when you're done."

"Okay," James sighed, a bit miffed by his friends departure. "Goodbye, fellow Marauder."

Sirius saluted like a sailor, "Goodbye, Prongsy. We shall meet again!"

Hermione watched as the boy walked off, leaving James and her in complete silence. The surrounding light had left, leaving them drenched in complete twilight.

"So…."

"I don't know," Hermione said, looking completely away from James. He was sitting so close to her that it was hard to do so, and ignoring him was out of the question. She could nearly hear his heart beating from inside his chest.

"Nice view, huh?"

"Yeah.."

Hermione wanted to scream out loud because of the awkwardness of the situation. They continued to sit like that as the twilight began to filter away and the shadows became darker and drenched them in darkness.

"Look," Hermione said after about a quarter of an hour. "I guess I better be going. You should meet your friend at Jonko's and get back to school before you're missed."

She heard a small, almost inaudible sigh from the boy next to her. She sent a questioning glance at him that he couldn't see in the dark and stood up, shortly followed by him.

As they boy stood there, a few feet apart, the stars twinkled and the wind picked up a bit. Hermione brushed her hair behind her ears to try and keep it out of her face and she tightened the clasp on her cloak, fiddling with the hook for something to do. James was once again ruffling up his hair in the back. She supposed it was what he did when he was nervous or under some kind of pressure.

"Well, I guess this is where I say goodnight," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah… I guess I'll be seeing you around - and by no coincidence, no doubt?"

"You bet," he grinned at her.

She kept her face straight, although she had the impulsive urge to smile as well. "Well, goodnight."

"Night," James said but didn't move. Hermione took that as her own cue to leave.

She gave him a slight smile then began to brush past him. She intended on leaving there quickly, but as luck would have it, she tripped on something on the ground and stumbled a bit.

She threw her arms forward as she begun falling but instead of hitting solid ground, she hit something else that was solid - pure muscle. Before she could pull herself away, she felt strong arms wrap around her, holding her steadily in place against the built chest of the Gryffindor.

"James," she said warningly, realizing that what she'd tripped on had been his own foot. She suddenly had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach that he had had that all planned out.

Instead of answering, the boy looked down into her brown eyes and smiled gently.

"Please," she said, clearing her throat. "Let go of me. I really should be going." The girl attempted getting out of his arms but realized he had no intention of letting her go yet. "James Potter!"

"Hermione," he said quietly, and Hermione heard something else in his voice that made her freeze.

She stared up just in time to meet the lust filled eyes before he pressed his lips firmly against hers. She froze on the spot, unmoving. Her heart raced and thumped painfully against her ribcage and her legs felt as if they'd give out.

After an agonizingly long time, the boy pulled away, leaving a very flushed and timid girl standing in front of him.

"Hermione?"

She didn't answer him, but shook slightly. It felt so… awkward. This was Harry's dad - his dad. It had to be a sin for him to kiss her.

"I-I'm sorry, James," she finally choked out.

"Did I do something wrong?" his voice was filled with concern.

She shook her head, blinking back tears of frustration and confusion. What was she feeling? She'd never felt the emotions that she felt now all at once. It was hate, want, love, confusion, fear, and above all - something unknown.

"Look, if I upset you, I'm sorry," he hurried to apologize, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. At her shudder, he quickly withdrew it.

"No, look, you didn't do anything wrong," she whispered, trying to convince herself that it hadn't been wrong, but her mind screamed at her that it was.

He looked disbelievingly at her and inquired, "Are you sure?"

She nodded again, "Yes. Well, I best be going now. Goodnight."

"Night…"

And with those repeated farewells, Hermione hurried past the boy. She shuddered and stumbled through the darkness, avoiding the many bushes and brambles the best she could.

She blinked back the tears of frustration still and pulled the hood of her cloak up to hid her face from anyone who might be out. It was so wrong, but yet she realized it had felt so right, in an awkward way.

She didn't want to think about it anymore. It was too much for her to dwell on. For all she knew, it could have been an accident - nothing more but another stumble on something, but she knew she was using ludicrous lies to try and convince herself otherwise.

"No, this isn't supposed to happen," she whispered. "Not supposed to happen… ever."

She finally found herself standing outside of the bookshop. She took out her wand and used an unlocking charm on the door to get inside. After locking up, she quickly headed upstairs to her lodge, where she quickly changed into her pajama's and crawled into her bed.

Picking up a large novel from her bedside table, she flipped through it to find her last reading spot. When she did, she began reading, but her mind began drifting out of focus of what the words said on the page and she found herself replaying the moment near the Shrieking Shack.

The kiss…

A kiss…

Her first, actual kiss. Most wouldn't have believed it - she had 'dated' Viktor Krum in her fourth and fifth years and most people thought their relationship had been intimate. But really, it had just been a very close friendship.

And James Potter had stolen the first kiss from her - and as much as it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help but feel as if she'd betrayed Harry in some way or another. It was his father, and his father had obviously fallen for her - Hermione. What about Lily? She had to steer him in the right direction before things got out of hand more than they were.

She was already screwing up, she realized. She had told herself she'd do the best she could to stop herself from changing the future. But if she continued to see James the way she was, things would turn out too differently. She would just have to avoid him.

Hoping that she was thinking on the right track, she closed her book and buried herself down into her blankets, all her thoughts muddling together to form a jumbled up mass that gave her a headache.

She signed heavily and rolled over, pulling the little switch down on the lamp beside her bed.

When the lights went out, the moonlight from the cool, autumn night was seen from the window. Bare trees creaked and groaned outside, leaving an eerie sound to echo around the shop while dark shadows danced about on the floorboards and walls of the room.

Hermione shut her eyes tightly, wishing that the sounds would go away. She wasn't used to being on her own like she was. Hermione had always had Ron, Harry, or Ginny there to be with her, but being somewhere so confused and lost left her feeling very uncertain and scared of her surroundings. She didn't know anything of where she was, or what she was messing with.

Time was a tricky thing, and she had to watch out for it… or things could turn out horrendously for everyone…

And that was something she didn't want to risk happening.