Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies is not mine.

A/N: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Reanne1102, who's a great friend and a great author on this site. Go check out her HG/JP story. : D

Thanks Aria DeLoncray, sum1swaiting, Harpiebird, I O U, LoveForRupertGrint, Reanne1102, Kaz, Saz-646, LunaLovegoss, RubberDuckyLoser, Hawaiian-Rachael, seriously bored, Shinebright-Starlight, Kill-All-Flamers , and mandy-jg for all the wonderful reviews!

Hands are Meant to Hold

By: xScenex a.k.a. Min

Chapter Four

The November cold crept into her room well before the sun had risen. Hermione had woken half an hour before, feeling slightly feverish.

Her night wandering around Hogsmeade every night was obviously something she should take more caution on, especially in the cold weather as of late. She lay in bed now, her covers pulled up well over her chest and all the way up to her chin. Her eyes were hooded, and her body shook slightly in fever.

Hermione lay like that until the sun had begun rising in the sky, sending a dull, grey light into her room from the cloud covered rays of the sun. She groaned slightly and sat up, the chill air of the room sending more unwanted chills through her body as it pressed against her clammy skin.

It had been quite a while since she had last seen James. She wasn't sure if he was ignoring her or if he was just giving her space. The girl wasn't too sure either if she liked it, or hated it. Her feelings were quite jumbled up from the past month or so.

When she thought of the raven haired boy, images of Harry popped into her mind, but behind those, there was a sense of doubt. He wasn't Harry, and he wasn't Harry's dad yet.

But every time those thoughts came into her mind, she discarded them, thinking them to be nothing but her imagination. But she couldn't help but remember the night he'd kissed her. He'd played it out so smoothly that if she wasn't as smart as she was thought to be, she actually would have thought that her tripping incident was an accident.

The kiss was so phenomenal - under the stars, right as twilight ended. He had held her so delicately that she couldn't help but wonder if he had been just as frightened as her.

But she was frightened for many reasons - much more serious than his own petty thoughts of being rejected by her.

Her reasons lay in the future, where he should and would be with Lily Evan's. She couldn't mess up the future just because of her stupid mistakes. Her falling back in time wasn't supposed to happen - that much was for certain. She couldn't mess it up; serious consequences followed those who did.

Sighing miserably, Hermione got out of bed, tripping over her overly long pajama pants and staggered. She really wasn't ready for the upcoming day.

After retreating into the bathroom, she turned on the shower and allowed the hot steam to pour into the room, providing much more comfort that the chilly room beyond.

After showering, and finishing up on her morning activities while trying to ignore the constant sniffles and perspiration that formed against her skin, she tied her thick, bushy hair back in a low ponytail while she walked downstairs to the store.

It was quiet and a bit dark, the near winter grey light filtering in through the many windows. Shadows danced about the room as branches swayed in the wind outside of the windows.

Hermione shuddered. The place gave her the creeps sometimes.

She walked over to the door, pulling her turtleneck higher up on her neck. She unlocked the doors and flipped the sign in the window so that it said 'open' before walking away from the door that allowed the cold air from outside to slip through. She vaguely thought about needing to see someone about the place getting repairs.

After a few hours, a few customers came and went, and slowly, she noticed the streets slowly filling with people. At a closer inspection, she realized that they were students - it must have been another Hogsmeade weekend. The last one felt as if it had been just the other day, yet at the same time, it felt as if it had been forever.

Behind her desk, she fiddled with some papers, wondering if James and his friends would stop by the shop. Despite how much she tried to tell herself she didn't want them there, she actually liked their company - or James' in any case.

A look of horror dawn on her face once she realized she'd thought that. How could she favor James' company over anyone else? It was just an absurd thought!

She hastily wiped a strand of hair out of her face and felt her forehead. She knew she had a fever, and needed to take a fever reducing potion soon. She looked at the wizarding clock on the wall to the right. Hermione then decided to go ahead and take her lunch break and get some medicine.

She put up a sign in the window and left the store, dressed in a heavy coat and scarf. She didn't want to get sicker.

Hermione trudged through the streets, trying to avoid the many students milling about - which was quite hard, as they seemed to be everywhere. She remembered in her school days, the students had always tried to go warm places in cold weather.

Shaking her head at the students, she looked for a store that might carry some medicine. Not many shops where there like in her time, and there were even a few that she had never seen - but time does change things, she thought to herself.

Her eyes scanned the plaques hanging in front or above the doors and shook her head when she couldn't find any store that might carry the potion. What kind of place was Hogsmeade, not carrying any medical potions…

She idly thought about owling madam Pomfrey about sending her a potion, but thought against it, knowing that it would seem odd.

She sighed in frustration and turned around quickly, ready to go back to the shop and possibly do something remotely interesting. But as she turned on heel, she ran into someone who promptly yelped in surprise and the two fell to the ground.

Hermione rubbed her right arm, having landed on it. She sat up and looked towards the disheveled figure on the ground in front of her and her heart restricted for a moment before it nearly stopped.

She had just knocked Lily Evans over.

"I'm so sorry!" the redhead shouted in distress, her belongings now strewn across the cobblestone walk. "I didn't mean to walk into you like that!"

Hermione stood up, brushing her clothes off as Lily did. "No, it's fine," she smiled gently, though her moves were shaky. "I shouldn't have just turned around like I did. I was just a bit frustrated."

"Oh," Lily bent over to pick up some books, "I'm still sorry. I should have been paying more attention."

Hermione began picking up some of the belongings before they could be trampled by the numerous people in the streets. She handed them to Lily, who smiled and thanked her.

"Hey," Hermione said suddenly, "You wouldn't know where I may be able to find a fever reducing potion, would you?"

Lily shook her head a bit, frowning, "No, I don't."

She let out a groan of frustration. "What kind of place is this?"

The redhead looked at Hermione curiously, "Are you not from around here?"

Said girl shook her head slightly, her mind numbing over at how true her words were. "No, I'm not. I… recently left home, and found a job here in Hogsmeade at the old bookshop down there," she pointed from where she had first come from and Lily's face brightened a bit.

"Do you like it here? What's it like working there? I bet you get to read loads of books…"

Hermione nodded, feeling a bit distressed. "Yes, I do like it here; although, I miss home. And it's decent working at the book shop, but boring sometimes."

"Well, you don't get to do much, do you?" Lily asked, more to herself then to Hermione. "Oh. By the way, I'm Lily. Lily Evans."

The brown haired girl gave a weak smile, "I'm Hermione Granger."

Lily smiled brightly, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Hermione tried to match her smile but sneezed moments later.

"Are you sick?" The Ravenclaw girl asked Hermione, sounding concerned.

"Just a bit," she replied. "I really wish I had a fever reducer, or something that might help me."

Lily looked sympathetic, "You'll have to order something, though that could take a day or two. They're so slow with those things."

"Lovely," Hermione scowled to herself. Just what she needed - a fever and no way to get rid of it.

"Would you like to go somewhere warm? I don't think that this cold weather is going to help at all," Lily tried joking.

"Yeah, how about The Three Broomsticks? I could go for a hot butterbear right about now."

Lily nodded eagerly and the two of them headed off to the pub.

Hermione felt odd, seeing Harry's mom. It was just like when she saw James for the first time. Seeing, hearing, even talking to her seemed surreal. And her mind nagged at her about how unfair it was that she could do those things and Harry never could.

Her heart clenched almost painfully at the thought of Harry. She was doing so much that betrayed him in so many ways. But she couldn't help it, she thought to herself desperately. She couldn't do anything about what was happening. It was all too coincidental.

"- and it's really nice during the spring," Lily was saying with enthusiasm, talking about the surrounding area of Hogsmeade. Hermione nodded, only half listening. The rest of her was taking in Lily's profile.

She was a short girl, nearly as short as Hermione. Her face was freckled, and her red hair was quite prominent against her white coat and blue scarf. Hermione avoided looking at the girls eyes, as they reminded her too much of the things she'd left behind. She couldn't allow herself to dwell like she found herself doing quite often.

Hermione could tell that Lily had many features that Harry had. The way she held herself and the way she laughed. Also, the way she gestured when she spoke, or her facial expressions - it was obvious that Harry had inherited more from his mother than most people said.

She found herself smiling at that thought just as they walked into the designated pub. It was quite crowded and a cheery atmosphere filled the air. Lily had disappeared into the crowd moments before, heading towards the counter. Hermione looked around, trying to see if there was anyone she might have known or recognized from her time, but there were so many people it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

"Where should we sit?" Lily asked a few moments later as she came back holding two steaming mugs of butterbear and stood on her toes to try and see over the crowd of heads.

"Somewhere over there," Hermione pointed and Lily nodded in assent before walking towards an available table with the brown haired girl in tow.

After they situated themselves, Lily handed Hermione a butterbear who eagerly took it with clammy hands. "My treat," she smiled.

Hermione thanked her and took a sip of the drink, feeling it's warmth spread through her cold limbs. She disliked winter, but at the same time, enjoyed it. She loved the crisp smell of winter, but the cold was another thing…

"So where did you go to school?" Lily asked.

"I was home schooled," she answered with the first thing that popped into her mind.

"Really?" the other girl asked excitedly, "What's that like? I've never known anyone to be home-schooled! I'm a muggleborn, see."

"So am I," Hermione said, not realizing what she was saying until it was too late.

"Then how were you home schooled?" Lily inquired curiously.

"My… uncle was a wizard and he taught me," she said lamely, hoping Lily would buy it - which she did.

"Oh, that must have been exciting," she ranted, "I've always wondered what it would be like to learn magic while being home schooled. I've read about it and I heard that it's a lot more difficult than learning at a public school like Hogwarts or even Durmstrang. What did you think when you learned that you were a witch? I was quite surprised when I received my Hogwarts letter and thought it was all a joke my sister was trying to play on me - but I was proven wrong with one of the professor's came to my house! My mom and dad were a bit confused for a while, but they didn't mind at all and allowed me to go to Hogwarts."

Hermione was a bit surprised that the girl didn't take a breath during her speech. Even she didn't think she could say all that without taking a breather. But Hermione didn't dwell on the thought as her head began to spin and she felt slightly dizzy.

"Well… I was surprised, too. My mom and dad also thought it was a joke, but my uncle came by and told us all about the wizarding world. They didn't want to send me to a school though and my uncle said he'd teach me how to do magic. We didn't have much money, see," she said as an excuse, hoping that the girl would once more buy what she said. She still felt a bit light headed.

Lily nodded, "Quite a few families are like that. But some don't even learn magic because of that! Can you believe it?"

That's how the next half an hour went by - Lily and Hermione ranting on about different subjects. They were both enjoying themselves, finally having found someone else who shared the same interests.

Hermione was still a bit uneasy about talking to Lily, but soon, the feeling evaporated. She no longer saw a dead woman in front of her - after realizing what Lily's personality was, she found that she quite enjoyed the girls' company. She just hoped what she was doing wasn't a sin.

Eventually, Hermione had to call lunch over, because she had to get back to the shop. Smiling rather dejectedly, Lily waved.

"I'll see you again, sometime?" Lily said uncertainly.

"Maybe," Hermione told her, smiling slightly.

"Okay. Bye, then," she said sadly.

"Bye."

The parting was slightly awkward. Neither really wanted to go, and Hermione was not looking forward to sitting in an overly dusty, cold store. She was also feeling a bit more sick, noticing that she felt colder than normal.

She sighed, rubbing her hands together as she walked out in the bitter cold once more. The crowd was slowly thinning out as everyone was now heading places to eat lunch for the day.

Up ahead, Hermione could hear laughter, and realized that it was near her shop. As she rounded the corner of the street, she saw four boys at her shop, standing off to the side.

She groaned in frustration - all four of the Marauders. Just what she needed. One or two of them might have been fine, but four? And then she paled significantly at one thought.

James would be there.

Bugger.

A/N: I know this is a bit shorter, but I plan to get the next chapter up much sooner than this one took. And I know this is a boring chapter, but it was necessary - to me in any case. Anyways, thanks for reading!