Disclaimer: I'll own Harry Potter when Dumbledore isn't gay.

A/N: Dedicated to James and Lily Potter. 31/10/1981. R.I.P.

Hours later, James strolled into the sitting room to find Hermione asleep on the couch with her head resting on her shoulder.

"Jeez, that'll hurt in the morning," he muttered to himself before gently sliding an arm under Hermione's knees and another around her back and lifting her up.

He was startled at how light she was. She couldn't weigh more than a first year. She was surprisingly skinny as well. James made a note to watch how she ate because it couldn't possibly be healthy for her to be the way she was right now. James carried her up the stairs with ease, before realising that Sirius was in their room sulking. Bringing Hermione in there would not be a good idea. So instead, he turned around and walked up even more stairs to Hermione's room. Just as he set her down on the bed, she woke up.

"What're you doing here?" she slurred, her voice sluggish from sleep.

"You were asleep on the couch so I brought you up here," he replied.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "You know, we're brother and sister but we know hardly anything about each other."

"I know, it's a shame really. You seem like a great girl, we should get to know each other better."

"We should."

"Twenty questions?"

"Eh," she shrugged, "why not?"

"Okay, I'll start," James said, flopping onto the end of her bed. "Favourite colour?"

"Purple or red. Lucky number?"

"I don't really believe in that stuff but if I had to choose, I'd say seven. Quidditch team?" he asked with a wink.

"I don't follow Quidditch."

James gasped in horror. Hermione fell about laughing at the look on his face. The game continued for hours and the number of questions went way past twenty.

"Best memory?" Hermione asked.

"When Lily kissed me," James said with a smile.

Hermione's jaw dropped.

"When did this happen?"

"Christmas last year. There only were five people staying in Gryffindor that year and both of our parents were on holiday. Sirius stayed at Remus' because he didn't want to go home or stay at Hogwarts and there wasn't enough room for both of us so I stayed. We got to talking and she got a letter from her sister. Said she was getting married and didn't want Lily there at all. Lily was in tears the whole night and I stayed with her. It got late and she thanked me for being there for her. And then we kissed."

"But she seemed like she hated you in London?"

"Yeah, I know. I screwed up after that."

"How?"

"I don't really know. She didn't seem to think much of our kiss but she warmed up to me a bit. We never kissed again but during the holidays, we were close. Then everyone came back and she went right back to hating me," he sighed.

Hermione seemed lost in thought for a moment, and then she remembered something.

"James, what did you call Lily over that holiday?"

"Lily, why?"

"Because when you kiss a girl, you don't call her by her first name and then revert back to her surname as soon as your friends come back. In all honesty, if someone did that to me I'd punch them."

"Why?"

"Because it shows how easily you can change. And if you act differently when you're with your friends than you do when it's just her and you, it'll make her feel like she's not good enough."

"How does that work?"

"It just does."

"That's not really much use you know."

"Yes, James, I know. But it's the only answer I've got. Did you tell the guys that you'd kissed?"

"Nope."

"Well, at least you did one thing right. Tempus." It was 2:36 in the morning. "It's late, you should go."

"Yeah, probably. We should do this again."

"We should, make it a weekly thing," Hermione said half-laughing.

"Why not? It's been fun right?"

"Yeah, it has. So once a week then?"

"Sounds good. Night Mione."

"Night James."

He gave her a light kiss on the top of her forehead and walked out of her room.

Hermione snuggled under her covers and watched the moon from her window. She frowned. It was almost full; it would be full in the next few days. The Marauders would probably make some excuse and go to Remus.

God, poor Remus.

Hermione thought about the man that she had grown close to during her time in Grimmauld Place. His "furry little problem" made it hard for him to find work meaning that his clothes were normally shabby. Yet here, he seemed different. Although he still suffered from his lycanthropy, there was a light in his eyes that there never was before. He smiled a lot more now.

What happened to him?

As she thought about the Marauders, her mind drifted to Peter. Something must've happened over the next two years that made him turn to the Death Eaters. Maybe he had had an argument with the Marauders that he turned and couldn't get back. Or maybe he just got sick of being a follower. Peter was always hanging off every letter that passed the lips of James or Sirius or Remus. He never cracked the jokes, only laughed along. It was like the Marauders saw Peter as a sort of lost sheep. Like he needed to be taken care of, wasn't capable of doing much for himself. This wasn't a reason for doing something so vile, but he wasn't a traitor yet. There must've been a reason the Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor. Cowards most definitely didn't belong there.

James was a complicated guy. Always full of laughter and jokes but sometimes, he could be so cruel. Harry had told her about what happened between Snape and James while they were at school and James saw it as a harmless prank when really, it was just bullying. But he was so fiercely loyal to his friends and family and Lily. Hermione had been able to find out a little more about their relationship during their game of "one thousand and twenty questions" to quote James. Their relationship was completely, for lack of a better word, fucked up. James was totally and irrevocably in love with her and Lily hated him with a passion. Well, maybe just hated him now. It seemed like Lily didn't know that James actually was in love with her. She just thought it was all a joke. His arrogance didn't do much for him either. He and Sirius were both as arrogant as each other. Maybe Sirius a little more so.

Sirius was something different entirely. He was acted like he was some hardcore macho man and yet he had a charm to protect his hair. His silver eyes looked like liquid mercury but flashed steel when he was angry. And what was going on with him and Eleanor? They seemed to hate each other. Not like how Lily hates James but pure unadulterated hatred. She never knew that Sirius ever hated anyone outside of his family. He so was fun-loving and almost cuddly sometimes, but other times he was a complete pervert! What kind of person looks through his best friend's sister's underwear? Who actually does that? But at the same time, he was so cocky about doing it, not at all ashamed at being caught. The man was a mystery to her. One that she hoped to solve.