Hermione Granger had a secret, well okay she had a few secrets but most of those were only kept from specific people. She couldn't exactly go around telling her extended family that she was a witch, and that Magic was real. That was one of her 'normal' secrets.
One secret though, was just for her. One that she had told no one, not her parents, not her Head of House, and certainly none of her friends. Because how would one casually put into conversation, 'Oh, by the way I have a crush on your brother.'?
They didn't, it wasn't something a person told to their new friends, and it wasn't as if she had intended for it to happen.
It just sort of… did.
When Harriet and Amaryllis had approached her in their shared room one evening, with the other girls elsewhere, and told her about the situation she had thought them crazy.
A time traveler from another universe? Even as far as Magic went it was ridiculous. But then she had taken time to observe him. Clearly, he was more talented than he let on, Defense class was an obvious indication, but there were other moments as well.
The way he would look around wistfully at their classmates and surroundings. The clear discomfort in his own House, the fact that he had seemed to gravitate towards the Gryffindor side when entering a room, only to almost force himself towards Slytherin.
She had decided to approach him and just ask. There was no harm in asking, right? What was the worst that would happen, he would laugh it off or say his sisters were pulling a prank? So, she had approached him, after Potions, or at least tried to, but found herself tongue tied, mind empty when she finally had the opportunity.
That should have been a clear indication, but it had been dismissed as her own social anxieties. Finally, she had found her inner Gryffindor and had the conversation. It went differently than she initially expected, turns out that Magic was far more amazing than she originally thought, and she ended up with a third friend.
But then, but then, whatever it was that had given her courage to start the conversation prevented her from just shutting her mouth.
"Were we, anything more than friends?"
What the hell had she been thinking asking something like that? After their talk the hole in the dam had only continued to widen.
He was funny, kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and yes, the best-looking boy in their year by far. But it wasn't just his looks, thankfully else Hermione was sure she would have never been able to chastise herself enough.
She felt comfortable around him, like she could talk about anything and not worry about judgment, not worry about sounding like a know-it-all or nerd. And so maybe she had another reason for accepting the invitation to the Potter's home over the summer. Maybe she hadn't just wanted to see Amaryllis and Harriet.
Maybe she wanted to spend time with him too, maybe she wanted to see how his summer was going. Maybe, just maybe, she wanted to hear him call her 'Mione' in that whispered emotional tone that had her stomach doing all sorts of things and her body temperature spiking.
****
Lily's body was tense, beyond tense, mostly due to the revelations of what went on at Hogwarts. Harry's first year, and despite him claiming it had been considerably better, and safer, in this new universe there were still far too many similarities.
It also didn't help knowing what he had been forced to go through without siblings or parents to fall back on.
Thus, she sat on the bed, staring at the wall across from her while her husband finished brushing his teeth in their attached bathroom. Moments later he walked in, and obviously noticed her distress. "Still thinking about today?" She nodded, and the man sighed before sitting down next to her, "Hell of a lot to take in, isn't it?"
"Is it wrong that I don't want him going back there? That I don't want any of them going back?"
"No," he replied almost immediately, "I think that is the correct thing to want, but I also don't think it is the right decision." A lull in conversation followed which was ended when a small smile crossed the man's face, "Do you remember right before we went shopping with the girls? I was so afraid that Harriet wouldn't be able to make friends, that she would end up sitting alone in her room. I had been so scared she would lock herself away with her books, and you said…"
"That you were being ridiculous and that we both knew Amaryllis would drag her out if she had to. That she would sit with her sister every day at lunch and force her into into her circle of friends if need be."
James smiled, "Then you were afraid that Amy wouldn't take her studies seriously, that she would spend all of her time with friends goofing around and I had to remind you that Harriet would badger her every day until she studied and would go over every topic until she figured it out."
This time it was the woman's turn to grin. "And now we have Harry, who we know would do anything to protect them, and I have a feeling that they would die to protect him as well."
"Not to mention making sure he has friends. I was so worried about that."
Lily gave a quick nod before falling silent once more. Moments later she broke it, "I suppose the one good thing to come out of all of this is that we have the best bragging rights of any parent ever."
The man snorted, "Are you kidding me? 'Oh, your daughter became a Prefect? Well, my son cast the Patronus Charm in his first year'."
His wife spoke next, "What's that Lady Malfoy? Your daughter made the Quidditch team? How lovely. Oh, my son the one you called a failure? He dueled a professor to protect an incredibly dangerous artifact from falling into the wrong hands while he was in his first year… and he won. Shove that up your pompous ass you bitch."
Her words, inadvertently, reminded him of another concern he had been struggling with for some time. "We need to talk about something."
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