AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!

Can You Take the Jump?

Chapter 18

"Come to the victory party."

Hermione took one look at Lily's green eyes and knew there was no way she could refuse any longer.

Lily hadn't smiled at her since that argument, so seeing her now, giving her that look and that smile, she knew she lost the fight. She allowed the girls to pull her up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. The group stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady, and swung the door open to revealing the Gryffindor common room in 1973.

…

As the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, Hermione held her breath in anticipation as to what Gryffindor Tower would look like in 1973.

It was the same.

Not in the sense that the furniture was the same, but the sensation and smell of walking into the common room felt exactly the same. It was like coming home.

Before Hermione could fully appreciate her old common room, students began pushing the furniture out of the way while some rushed to their dorms to bring any snacks they'd hid away in their trunks. Tables and desks started filling up with food and beverages. By the time the Gryffindor Quidditch team arrived, everyone was already partying, some still in their Gryffindor gear and face paint, while others somehow managed to change and washup. They were sitting and standing around with questionable drinks in their hands and shouting over the blaring muggle music coming from somewhere unseen.

"Evans!" Sirius bounded over to her excitedly, reminding her of an overly large dog greeting an owner who just came home. "You're here!"

Everyone congratulated Sirius for his team's win, which made his chest puff out. Hermione looked over to the group he was just with to realize it was a group of girls who were just fawning over the handsome boy.

"I was invited by your fellow Gryffindors, I hope it's okay."

"Ah, well, you're the only Slytherin I can stand, so I'll allow it. You're practically a deserter."

Hermione chuckled at his description of her. "Don't let us interrupt your fun. I think those ladies were with you first."

"Eh, fuck 'em. You're much more important!" He promised, not letting go of the chance to speak to Hermione since the fateful DADA class.

"Let's grab some seats and get you something to drink before you try to run away from all the attention again." Sirius joked as he pulled her to one of the chairs. He pushed her down on to an overstuffed sofa by her shoulders, too busy trying to grab her a drink to see her pained expression as he pressed on her injury. By the time he turned around to hand her the drink, her face erased all traces of pain.

She looked down at the drink, appropriately suspicious of the orange liquid in the cup.

"It's just pumpkin juice. Not spiked."

Not trusting his cheeky grin, she gave the drink a sniff to find no traces of alcohol, then proceeded with a tentative sip.

"Such little trust." Sirius clutched his chest dramatically at Hermione's actions.

She ignored his acting and looked around the common room, "Where's Potter?"

"Probably still in the shower trying to cool his head before joining the party. James isn't happy with how we won, but he didn't want to ruin the festive mood."

"You still won."

Sirius shrugged, "he recons we should've done better. He doesn't like how we won with such a small margin. It was pure luck that the snitch fly by our Seeker's nose. McLaggen's a bit shit. I figure if we'd gone with James's game play then we'd have won with a greater difference than just 20 points."

"If he's so horrible, why is he captain?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Nepotism and seniority? He was close with the previous captain and he's one of the oldest players in the team."

"Well maybe if Potter made a formal complaint to McGonagall then—"

"Sirius~"

Hermione looked over at the group of girls who were waving Sirius over. The young and beautiful group of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were figuratively and literally batting their eyelashes at the handsome young Black. He was truly a Casanova.

"I didn't mean to keep you away. Go ahead, enjoy the night. You deserve it."

"It's fine, Evans."

"No, I insist. Besides, I'm going to go talk to my sister." Hermione stood up from the seat. She gently pushed the boy toward his adoring fans, and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Sirius!" One of the girls called to him, louder this time. Beckoning him to come back to them.

"Go." Hermione pushed him once more.

Like the good dog he was at heart, he was loyal, refusing to leave, but he loved the attention of many. He wanted to be fawned over for his good looks, good hair, good physique and good tricks like any adorable dog. To show that she was truly okay with him going, she walked with him, almost guiding him, all the way back to the girls.

"Did you guys know that Black can hit a Bludger across the entire Quidditch field?" Hermione made up a hyperbolic lie, then gasped, "Isn't that so amazing?" She coaxed the exact fawning reactions he wanted from the girls, and left Sirius to bask in it.

Lily was sitting by the corner nursing a small drink in her hands, eyes scanning the crowd like she was looking for someone.

"Who're you looking for?"

"Hermione!" Lily jumped, but quickly smiled. "How are you liking the infamous Gryffindor Quidditch party?"

"Its good." Hermione vaguely replied, but quickly returned to the question her sister ignored. "Who are you searching for?"

Lily paused a bit too long before answering with a tentative, "You, of course."

Hermione shook her head at her sister's horrible lie, but decided to let it slide. "Is that alcoholic?" She asked, looking pointedly at the drink in her sister's hand.

"Are you monitoring me?" Lily raised her brow at her sister's question.

"Do you need to be?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"Well, it's a party at the end of a good day. Everyone around you is also drinking to celebrate. It wouldn't be surprising."

Lily scoffed, offended at the accusation of underage drinking and lightly smacked her sister's arm. "It's just butterbeer!" She stretched her drink up to Hermione's nose for her sister get a whiff.

Hermione pet her sister's head, "Good girl."

Lily pushed her sister's hand away in mock annoyance, then pulled her sister's cup down to her own nose to smell her sister's drink.

"Pumpkin juice?" Lily asked in fake horror, "My goodness, you're a bigger killjoy than I am."

Hermione shrugged. She looked out into the lively crowd, then turned to her sister who kept her eyes at the entrance.

"According to your friends' recount of the game, Potter was the real MVP. I assumed he would be in the center of all this glory like he usually does."

"He's not that bad." Lily unknowingly defended. "He's upset at their game today. He didn't stay in the pitch after they won."

Lily had turned to her sister only to see Hermione giving her a knowing look. "What?"

"I had no idea you knew so much about him."

Lily paused, surprised by her own knowledge of him. "Well, I've lived 3 years with the guy, you're bound to pick up on a few things." She rationalized.

"Oh," Hermione nodded at the plausible excuse.

"What."

"Lily, you're generally not a very observant person." Hermione spoke bluntly. "It took you 2 weeks to notice that Professor Sprout cut her hair, 1 week to notice Mrs. Norris doesn't wear a bell around her neck anymore and you still haven't realized that Professor Flitwick charms his bowtie colors to match the weather."

"He does?" Lily clamped her mouth shut when she realized she just proved her sister's point.

"But you notice when Mary changes her mascara, when Marlene runs out of her nice shampoo, you know the difference between angry Lyana and just hungry Lyana. You know when Mum's shop is running smoothly by the smallest changes in her humming, and you know when Tuny is dating or not."

Hermione perched on the arm rest of the chair her sister was sitting on, and bonked her sister's head with her own.

"You're focused on your own life and the people directly in it. That's okay, but when are you going to acknowledge Potter as someone that's been consistently and actively in your life for the past 3 years?" Hermione gently placed her arm around her sister and gave her a small squeeze. "I think that Potter can become a great friend to you if you let him and I think you know that too."

Lily frowned and refused to respond, but didn't push Hermione away either.

"If you want a friendship to form with James, you need to take his date requests more seriously. Then, maybe your responses can be taken more seriously." Lily opened her mouth to complain, but Hermione stopped her. "No, really reject him. None of the ambiguous bullshit you pull to keep him partially in your life."

"I don't—"

"You do," Hermione told her.

Lily looked to be pondering her words, but after watching her bite her lips in nervous habit, Hermione reached down and held her sister's hand in reassurance. "I think that after you really reject him, James will still be in your life. He just wants to be with you, anyway he can. He thinks you're brilliant because you're Lily Evans, not because you're the first girl to reject him, and not because you're just some pretty girl."

Hermione kissed her sister on the crown of her head. She stood up and walked away, allowing her to stew at her words.

The party was in full swing, making the common room feel stuffy. Remus and Lily's roommates alternated keeping her company, but ended up being pulled into different conversations, games, and dances by their fellow Gryffindors, leaving Hermione by her lonesome. She looked around the common room, suddenly feeling the opposite of what she felt when she walked in. She looked down at her robes that had a Slytherin crest embroidered on her chest. The Gryffindors weren't just leaving her alone, they were avoiding her. She was an outsider. She didn't belong here.

"Oof."

Hermione lifted her head to apologize to the person she'd just bumped into only to see James, hair still dripping from his shower, but smelling fresh and clean.

Like Harry did. She thought to herself.

"Party must really suck if you're leaving already!" James shouted over the sound of people and the music.

"I…Lily was looking for you!" Hermione quickly changed the topic to something she knew he couldn't resist. "Here." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the slightly more isolated corner where she last saw her sister.

After pushing through the crowd, Hermione stood on her tippy toes to look for Lily only to see her lip locked with her boyfriend Amos Diggory. Hermione quickly tried to push James back, trying to prevent him from witnessing the same thing, but she was too late. His hazel eyes saddened as they looked onto the couple who were making out.

"Come on," Hermione forcefully turned him around and pushed him back in the direction they'd come from. She pulled him outside, exiting the loud common room.

The moment the Fat Lady's portrait closed behind them, the sounds from the common room shut off and all that was left was the quiet hallway.

The two walked in silence, with more than a meter of distance between them. It was the first time they'd been alone together since their first year, when she'd knocked out three Slytherin upper years with her uncontrollable magic. James Potter might not remember that day thanks to Dumbledore's intervention, but Hermione never got the chance to thank James for stopping her and standing up for Lily.

"Thank you." She blurted out.

James turned to her looking understandably confused.

"You don't know it, but you did something for me and I'm grateful." Hermione vaguely explained. The conversation filled her with the sense of déjà vu, as she had a similar one with Regulus Black on September 1st.

"I don't get to know what it is I did for you?"

"No. Your head is already big as it is. Just know you did something good and that I'm grateful."

James let out a laugh, "Alright. You're welcome." His smile didn't linger, but his eyes looked less sad than they were before.

They walked in uncomfortable silence and stopped at the end of the hall. She looked up, only to realize she'd arrived at the place where she had cried her eyes out when she witnessed Ron and Lavender making out.

Huh.

She wiped off a stone step with her hand, and sat down.

"I don't bite." She tapped the space next to her and James slowly sat down. They sat in silence, James waiting expectantly for her to speak up, to tell him the reason why they were taking an evening stroll, but she didn't. She remained silent, making him fidgety. He played with the string bracelet that Lily had bought last summer, the one Lily claimed could indicate if you've met your true love. It was heavily frayed and she could see multiple knots, as if had fallen off and he'd retied the string over his wrist numerous times.

"Has Lily… has she ever talked about me, with you?" He finally broke, not enjoying the silence.

"Sometimes. Especially in first year, but not these days." She looked at the boy next to her and her heart clenched at the painfully familiar face. It was probably the saddest she'd ever seen James Potter. He's never looked more like Harry Potter than in that moment and that fact made her even more sad.

While Harry still had bursts of teenage hormonal angst, he was mature for his age. His abusive upbringing forced him to raise himself and his heroic personality with the added knowledge of the world resting on his shoulder made him more mature than most.

Compared to his future son at the same age, James was still a kid in every sense. There was a child like wonder in his eyes that glinted with mischief, along with innocence, naivety, and a boat-load of arrogance. While she never witnessed him tormenting and bullying other students with a viciousness she felt from Draco Malfoy, he played pranks. The pranks were often good fun, and even the victims laughed it off, but not always. The problem with being largely amicable and charming was that rejection hurt harder because it was so rare.

Hermione knew that in the future, the Lily and James would regret not getting together earlier. They'd wonder why they behaved the way they did and said they things they said. She knew this with certainty because it was the same regret that she had with Ron. But alas, it was a common ailment of the young to waste their youth on foolishness. Hermione couldn't just snap her fingers to make Lily and James more mature, she couldn't make James Potter less of an arrogant prat and Lily less defensively rude. Simply put, they weren't ready for each other. Not yet.

"He doesn't really love her." James warned with no context, but Hermione knew he was speaking of the impending heartache her sister would eventually face.

The thought that this thirteen-year-old boy would know anything about real love would have been humorous to Hermione, but he was James Potter and she was Lily Evans. What James felt wasn't a fling or some brief infatuation, it was the real thing; he just didn't know how to express it.

"Lily knows what true love is. She'll notice if she's not being truly loved by Diggory." Hermione consoled.

"You know what I think?" Hermione thought back to the advice she'd given Ginny all those years ago. Ginny followed Harry around blindly, in similar fashion to how James followed Lily. "I think you should give up on Lily."

"What?" James's eyes widened. "Do you not like me or something?"

"On the contrary. I do like you Potter, and I think you'll be good for my sister. Great even. But she doesn't see who you really are and frankly you don't really see Lily for who she is."

"What does that mean?"

"How much do you know about Lily? I mean, how much do you really know. Do you know what makes Lily, Lily? Do you know her dreams? What she thinks is important in life? Do you know what she wants to become?"

James frowned, not able to answer her questions.

"James," he looked up at her again. "Do you know that much about yourself?"

Hermione turned to James who was now deep in thought. "Why don't you take a break on asking Lily out, and first, learn who you are, then make an effort to learn who Lily Evans really is. Afterwards, you can make the judgement on whether you really think Lily is who you want and need in your life."

"How can I find those things out when Lily won't even talk to me?"

"I can't do all the work for you." Hermione joked. She smiled at his adorable pouty face. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, you're smart enough. You're a good person, James. Lily won't just be attracted to you; she will love you if you just show her that."

…

Hermione slowly made her way up to the Room of Requirement after an unexpectedly long night.

She sighed, drained from the eventful day. She tried stretching her back and shoulders, but stopped suddenly to wince at the residual muscle pain from the stab wound that she'd gotten from Bellatrix Black a few hours ago. Her sudden stop caused someone following secretly behind her to abruptly stop as well, notifying Hermione of their presence as their shoes slid on the stone floor. She recognized his footsteps; soft at the heel, but had a slight slap on the ground when his pads touched them, indicative of anyone wearing slightly larger shoes. The rhythm and sound of his footsteps belonged to someone whom she familiarized herself with long time ago.

She purposely slowed her pace, allowing him to catch up to her.

Just as she was about to turn around to confront her night-time stalker, someone else from the side pulled her behind an alcove.

She instinctively gripped the kidnapper's pinky finger, just like her father taught her, and yanked it as far back as she could. She used the distraction then to pull out her wand and press it against her attacker's throat just about to throw the nastiest hex she could think of on the spot.

"Sirius?" Hermione whispered in disbelief. "What are you—"

He shushed her quickly, but his eyes were wet in the corners as he held his hand in pain. "Someone's following you."

"Hermione, there no point in hiding, I know you know I'm here."

Sirius looked down at her with a surprised expression, but Hermione nodded letting him know that she'd been completely aware of the stalker as well. Feeling suddenly very lame for acting so seriously, Sirius slowly let his grip loose giving her a sheepish grin.

She motioned him to stay where he was, then stepped out to the hall.

"Severus."

"So, you went to their party." Severus narrowed his eyes at the red face paint that Lyana and Marlene had teasingly painted on her face. "Seeing how late you're coming back; I'm guessing it was fun?"

"What do you want, Sev?"

Severus frowned deeply. "Do you even know the state of Slytherin House right now? Everyone is accusing you of stealing Quidditch plays from Slytherin and giving it to your new friends!"

Hermione stayed silent for a moment, "I think that's the most logical accusation I've gotten from Slytherin since I started school."

"Hermione this is not a joke."

"What else can they do to me that they haven't already done? Bully me? Ostracize me? Treat me like I'm less than dirt?"

Severus clenched his jaw, his frustrations peaking from her uncharacteristically careless attitude. "I understood you when you spent time with them during class and even when you ate with them, but going to their Quidditch after party?"

"You understood me? Which one of my decisions was so complicated that you had to take the time to understand me? My choosing Gryffindors over Slytherin or Lily over you?"

"But it's not just Lily, is it? I bet you kissed Potter and Black's ass like everyone else in this bloody school."

And there it was, his inferiority complex and his jealousy. That and his desire for power would be the root of what causes his downfall in the future. The one she was desperately trying to stop. Instead of answering right away, she let him stew in his words, hoping he could hear how petty he sounded.

"You can't be with them! It's Potter—I mean, Gryffindors! You're a Slytherin, Alphard is a Slytherin! He would be ashamed of you!"

The mention of Alphard's name ignited a fire in her. "Oh, so you can see the green in my tie. I'm so glad you've finally acknowledged that, Severus! It's only taken you three years! I was beginning to think you were colourblind!"

How dare he mention Alphard. How dare he. Her emotions spiked and she was too drained to stop the onslaught of words that were vomiting out of her mouth.

"I—"

"Shut. Up." Hermione whispered. "If you have any sense of human decency, you should know that you cannot point your hypocritical fingers at me for seeking friendship elsewhere. You were ashamed to be seen with me. You were afraid of the backlash of being my friend. Yet you think you can stand there and make judgmental comments on who I choose to be friends with now?"

Hermione's exhale shook. The anger and resentment were spilling out now, and she didn't know if she could stop it. Memories of Severus just standing there when Slytherin House picked on her, beat her, called her names and spat in her direction. His inaction that hurt her more than she cared to admit.

"I hope it was worth it," she spat, "being friends with those horrible people just because they're part of a powerful family. Do they treat you like the rich, powerful pureblood you desperately want to be?"

Severus remained silent.

Hermione let out a lifeless laugh. She felt dizzy. She'd lost a lot of blood earlier that day and hadn't fully recovered. Instead of resting, she was dragged out to a party. Not only was she physically exhausted, but mentally too. Now Severus was emotionally draining her and she didn't want to take it. She was done being a Slytherin punching bag today. She looked at the boy who spent all the holidays with her, but ignored and rejected her when she was injured. She'd told herself that she understood his predicament, but apparently, she wasn't as generous, nor as tolerant and understanding as she thought she was.

Hermione wanted to hurt him. She wanted to hurt him so that he could taste just 1/100th of what she felt when she saw him standing in the crowd, doing nothing, while her bullies threw hexes and physical blows.

An idea popped into her head, an idea that would hurt Severus and his fragile ego, an idea that could possibly ruin their friendship forever.

She looked back to the corner where she knew Sirius stood, surprised he'd managed to stay there like she'd asked. She could imagine Sirius's outraged face and clenched fist at the thought of her in pain. There was comfort in knowing that he'd be angry on her behalf because Sirius was a good person.

She stepped back and reached into the alcove and pulled Sirius out of his hiding spot. The two boys had shocked expressions as their met eyes, but Hermione didn't give them a chance to exchange any words or curses. Instead, she pulled Sirius close and without giving any thought to the consequences, she reached up, throwing her arms around the handsome Gryffindor's neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

…

Sirius lied on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of this four-poster bed in the dark, touching his lips.

The entire point of it was to snub Snivellus, but the way she gripped him so tightly, like she never wanted to let him go made his heart race. Maybe it was the fact that Hermione's lips were softer than they looked and her entire body was much warmer than he'd thought.

She was taller than he'd thought, but shorter than Lily. Beneath her oversized uniform, she was also concerningly skinny, feeling so small in his arms despite her height. It felt like he was protecting her from the world; the girl with a horrifyingly realistic boggart, thrown aside by her House, the lone muggleborn in Slytherin, and apparently ignored by a so-called friend.

He closed his eyes, and that kiss!

Initially, their lips collided almost painfully. He'd let out a subdued gasp at her actions. Both their eyes were open as they looked into each other. It wasn't sexy, hot or passionate. Sirius was too shocked to give a proper reaction and Hermione had done this just to make a point.

However, both of them couldn't help but realize one thing; each other's warmth.

Soon after the shock, the touching of their lips deepened naturally as he relaxed his body. Like two pieces of a puzzle fitting perfectly into place, he raised his arms and placed them on her hips, pulling her closer. She was soft and warm. There was something undeniably exciting having her in his arms. They didn't hear Snivellus snarl and storm off, they didn't care that they were in the middle of a hall where anyone could walk in and see them.

He remembered thinking, 'Holy shit, where did Hermione Evans learn to kiss like this?'

It just felt right.

One hand on the base of her head and the other rubbing her back, Sirius licked her bottom lips, asking, no, begging for entrance, but as if reality came crashing back to her, she'd shoved him away.

He opened his eyes, starting at the darkness of his dorm room.

Never had he been so enraptured by a kiss before, never had he been so taken by someone in an instant. He could still feel the buzzing in his blood though it had been hours since the kiss.

He remembered how they'd stared at each other after the kiss. He was sure by the shocked look on her face that she'd felt it too, the same tingling sensation he was feeling. Her lips were as swollen and red from the harsh impact and she had flushed cheeks as she breathed heavily.

Too distracted from the night's events, Sirius didn't notice the string bracelet fraying around his wrist.

…