I wasn't planning on updating today but I'm in a good mood so here you go :)

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Seven

Red-handed

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Lily Potter aka Hermione Granger coughed awkwardly and busied herself with the messy baby Harry as she pretended not to notice the three pairs of eyes that had been watching her every move since they arrived. Sirius had suspicion etched in his face while James and Remus looked on with thinly veiled curiosity.

Her mind was reeling, viewing every memory she had of Lily with the Marauders. They seemed to get along well, and Lily seemed to ground the mischievous friend group but why on earth are they staring at her like she grew a second head?! Did she mess up something? Was she not supposed to act like that? How was she supposed to act, then? Her hands were trembling from nervousness and she felt like the swotty fifteen-year-old Hermione Granger having an existential crisis caused by OWLs all over again.

She stabbed the piece of meat on her plate. She was glad she bought a cookbook during her outing with the girls and was fairly experienced at cooking as she had forgotten about the men coming over for dinner but the rush hadn't aided her in the slightest.

She hoped the other steaks were good because hers was definitely overcooked.

"The steak is bloody tougher than rubber." Sirius groused which made her wince. Great way to flatter a woman, that.

Okay, she definitely should've told James to bring home some takeout but in her defense, she was fantastic at doing things amazingly the first time. Although her cooking experience was indeed very humble, she had single handedly cooked all meals for the Golden trio during their time in the woods.

She heard a loud thud under the table and then a yelp but pointedly ignored it.

"Really? Mine's cooked perfectly. You did a good job, Lils." Hermione knew heroes came in all shapes and sizes but she never thought it could be one James Potter, the same man who had complained to other women that his wife didn't wear enough dresses.

She tried to smile but she was sure it came out more of a grimace.

Tiny Harry was busy devouring his plate of seasoned peas and shredded steak. She was glad the toddler was pretty easy to deal with and behaved well. She hadn't given much thought on having children as Hermione Granger because she thought kids were terrors wrapped in a tiny package but the toddler sitting beside her was slowly changing her opinion. She watched the tot with a fond smile. It was good to see him eating so well.

"So, Lily, is your head better?" Remus broke the rather awkward silence with a genuinely concerned tone.

"Yeah, thanks for asking."

The two shared a look. Remus had an apologetic smile while Hermione was just glad the quietness was filled even for just a moment.

"Have some more, Remus. I also have some pudding for dessert." She reached over and scooped another serving on his plate. He thanked her and she contentedly sat back in her seat.

After what felt like hours of agonising and stifling sounds of cutlery on plates, James cleared his throat and asked if they wanted to play some board games that Hermione had never heard of in her life. She was sure if Ron or the twins had seen her cluelessness they would've teased her with mock offense before explaining bit by bit about wizard board games.

Shaking her head amusedly, she failed to catch her (pseudo)husband wave at Remus while Sirius was distractedly cooing at the tot nibbling on his baby spoon.

They moved to the family room where Harry was given more parchment and crayons while the adults sat down; Hermione on the large sofa and Sirius on the small single adjacent.

"He's really growing up so fast, isn't he?" Her mind was pulled back to the present and she raised her eyebrow at the animagus in front of her. She hadn't heard what he said.

He looked at her weirdly again and repeated slowly, "I said, Harry's growing up so fast."

"Yeah it's like it was only yesterday when he was only as big as a melon."

They watched Harry drawing contentedly for several more moments before Sirius spoke up again.

"How're your parents?"

Not looking away from her-Lily's child, her lies came forth before she could even think of it. "You know, probably busy."

Sirius tilted his head and looked on with mock interest, gripping the wand hidden in his pocket discreetly. "Oh? Your mother knitting sweaters again?"

Hermione laughed easily when she remembered how she had knitted clothing for the school elves and how utterly terrified they became that they refused to clean the Gryffindor common room for weeks. She had Dobby to thank for doing it in return for mismatched items in her dresser.

"Yeah. She could dress a village with the amount she-"

Sirius had his wand pointed at her before she could finish her sentence. With a menacing gleam in his eye, he backed her up against the couch she was sitting on until her back was fully pressed into the soft cushions.

"Who are you?" He demanded, pushing his wand closer so that it almost dug into the skin under her chin.

Trying to stay calm in this stressful predicament, she decided to play ignorant. "W-what do you mean? Have you gone mad?!"

Not letting up the pressure, he glared at her obvious attempt at fooling him.

"Lily's parents died almost two years ago." He dug his wand into her skin harder. he spoke slowly. "So, I'll say it again. Who the bloody hell are you, imposter?"

Staring into blasing pools of grey, she mentally listed the pros and cons of confessing the truth to the animagus in front of her. The animagus who doesn't seem to mind blasting his friend's head into bits; even if said friend could be an imposter in polyjuice - - which, technically, she was not.

She saw his jaw tick which could mean he was running out of patience. Well, the man had never really followed the words: Patience is a virtue. She almost cracked a grin when a picture of Molly Weasley scolding a man of almost forty (he had shoved his werewolf friend because he had taken quite a long time in the bathroom for a reason only the latter would know) flashed in her mind.

"Well?! Who are you? Give me a reason why I shouldn't blow you into bloody smithereens right now." The aforementioned man-of-almost-forty-which-is-currently-in-his-twenties-and-could-blast-her-head-off-any-moment asked with gritted teeth.

Hermione took a deep breath to try not to burst out laughing. His face was just comical! She had always enjoyed bantering with him as Hermione Granger because he looked like a small child on the verge of a temper tantrum when ticked off.

Clearing her throat and frowning to stop her twitching lips threatening to curve into a smile, she answered truthfully. "You're right. I'm not Lily Potter."

"But-!" She blurted when he made to exclaim a spell.

"-but I'm not here to hurt anyone." When he raised an eyebrow, she rolled her eyes and huffed. "If I was, I could've killed all of you during that torturously awkward dinner or if I was a spy I could've just dosed the food with Veritaserum and ask the information I needed."

He seemed assuaged by that.

"I'm not really Lily but I technically, I kind of am..?"

The animagus sneered at her. "D'you think me stupid?"

"No! Well—yes-" she raised her hands when he dug his wand into her skin again. "—that's not the point! My point is, right now, I'm Lily."

"And I'm Snivellus fucking Snape." He snorted humorlessly and tightened his hold on his wand.

"I-I'm as confused as you are. All I know is, one moment I was fighting for my life and dying and the next, I was in this body and seventeen years into the past." She took a shuddering breath and felt a smidge of triumph when she saw surprise leak into the man's features.

"How do I know you're not just making this up?"

She had the urge to roll her eyes at the stubborn man but she understood. If she was in his place, who knows what she would've done. Certainly would've been as difficult as Sirius, if not more.

"You wouldn't. You'll just have to take the chance that I'm not. You could ask me a question no one would know, though." She shrugged easily.

"What is the Marauders' biggest secret?" He asked after a moment, brows furrowed.

How the hell would she know?! She wasn't as buddy-buddy with him because they couldn't stand each other then. And Harry wasn't one to tell her anything that wasn't just fun facts about his parents. Besides, she was closer with Remus who she had considered a mentor. She thought of the drunken stories she overheard the Marauders telling the boys and... AHA!

"Well, you'd be around twenty, twenty-one now so the biggest secret you'll have at the moment would be that you, James, and Wormtail are unregistered animagi to help Remus with his transformations. Any other secrets would stem from that."

He studied her for a moment, schooling his dumbfounded expression and must've found what he was looking for as he had his wand off her in a second.

"Does James know?"

"Of course not! He can't find out. Please, Sirius. This is important. Dumbledore told me that somewhere around this time everything strayed away from the given path and that I was here to make sure it won't like the first time."

"He visited our flat several days ago and gave me a vial. Said it was important that I viewed the memory contained in it but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Still need a pensieve." He frowned and was lost in thought before a childish giggles interrupted the tense conversation.

"Mama! Mama! Da! Da! Ba! Ba! Ba!" A grinning baby Harry squealed, calling his mother and pointing at the two returning men who had hoards of board games stacked in their arms.

"I know where you can use a pensieve." Hermione shuffled closer to the grey-eyed man and whispered. She watched him nod slightly and he whispered back an "I'll owl you," before taking a seat on the floor, his position making it easy to watch her.

Remus looked at the two of them weirdly and sent a warning glance at the animagus who had pretended to busy himself by choosing which game to play with James who was holding a very enthusiastic baby Harry.

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Hermione startled awake four days later when she felt a calloused hand brush the curve of her breast. She held it still through the thin fabric of her pyjamas to prevent it from reaching its desired object. She turned carefully on her back to peek at the snoozing man beside her.

Sometime during the night, the man had shuffled closer until her back was flush against his front and he was spooning her. He was very touchy while sleeping and Hermione has yet to get used to it.

She blushed heavily as she recalled the time he had stripped and asked her to join his shower the first day she woke up as Lily Potter. It seemed he had naughty tendencies, unconscious or not.

After pulling the man's hand from under her shirt, she stared blatantly at his sleeping face. She traced the bridge of his nose and the dark eyelashes that rested on his cheeks, inwardly cursing how angelic-looking he was. Her gaze stopped on his full lips and she felt a strong urge to press her own to them. They looked soft and kissable — they were. She had the chance to confirm that fact five days ago.

Suddenly, guilt filled her belly like a slap on the face. What was she doing? She had only known James Potter for barely a week and already she was willing to take the role of wife and mother in a much more literal and serious sense than her mission required.

She absolutely cannot fancy this man. Even if she did, he would never return it. He loved his wife and didn't know, would never know that inside this body was insufferable Hermione Granger and not the beautiful, kind Lily Potter.

Besides, what would the real Mrs Potter think?! This was wrong. So wrong and complicated.

Hermione bit her lip and sat up. She glanced once more at the man lying beside her before shaking her head and went to get ready for the day.

While she was defrosting the bacon for breakfast, she thought of the only person who knew the truth that she was not Lily. The man who had yet to owl her.

Before she could fret any more, a hoot came from the ajar kitchen window. Taking the piece of paper tied to its legs, she gave the eagle owl a treat before it flew off back to its owner and she opened the letter.

Leaky Cauldron. 5 o'clock.

-S.

It was time she finally continued that conversation with Sirius.

-o-O-o-

A/N: If you guys have read the original author's version, you'll know that I've omitted some of Hermione and James' scenes. I just frankly can't see it being that easy, you know? I imagine in this AU James has always been tentative with Lily after they married because she hated when he was anything but mature.

Additionally, I made Sirius a bit more suspicious for a bit longer. I felt that he would act like that because he's very protective of people he cared about i.e James, Harry, and Remus.

Toodles xx

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