Time Together

Hermione seemed to retreat within herself in a way that bothered James. The fact that his sweet, precious sister was no longer being drooled on by that pretentious git made him nearly giddy. He had to stop himself from dancing through the common room. However, he didn't want her to be unhappy. His friends, being the incredibly wonderful, loyal types that they were, had made sure that Hermione had one of them near—just in case—around the clock. It had also produced the slightly surreal side effect of Lily Evans speaking to him.

"Hey, uh, Lily, can I talk to you?" James had asked nervously. She had blinked up at him owlishly, and then put her book down. "Er, not here."

"What do you want?" She had demanded unceremoniously once they were in an alcove off the hall.

"Is she…okay?" James asked, worry evident in his face. Lily's face softened.

"I think so. She's mad and she's hurt, but I don't think she really loved Malfoy." Lily said quietly.

"Right, then," James said with a nod. He turned to walk back to the Gryffindor common area and tossed over his shoulder. "Thanks."

Lily stared after him. For years she might have tried to pretend that James Potter was a horrible, obnoxious boy, but because of her friendship with Hermione she knew that wasn't true. James would do anything for his sister. He was willing to humble himself, cry, plead, steal or beg if it meant her safety or her happiness. It might have been that moment that Lily realized that she was in love with James Potter.

"Your brother's worried about you," Lily said that night in their room. Hermione was sucking on a sugar quill and staring out the window. She turned back to Lily.

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously. She'd improved quite a bit. Sure, she spent almost all of her free time with her brother, Sirius or Remus, but they were quiet and kind and didn't want to hear anything about Malfoy like so many of the girls did. Funnily enough, the boys didn't seem to notice that she refused to be left alone with Peter.

"I think it's because you're so quiet. Usually, when you're upset, or angry, or hurt there's this yelling and screeching and hexing that occurs," Lily teased her friend gently.

"Oh, you!" Hermione threw a pillow at Lily. She sucked on her sugar quill some more, a somber look on her face. She stood up suddenly.

"Hermione! What are you doing? It's almost lights out!" Lily hissed at her friend. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Won't take a moment," Hermione smirked.

"Hermione? Hermione!" Lily hissed after her.

Hermione sauntered down the girl's stairs in her white muslin nightgown. James was sprawled on a couch with Peter sitting near him. Sirius and Remus were playing wizards chess. She stopped for a moment and smiled at the picture they made. There were other students in the common area, but the Marauders seemed to be in a world of their own making.

"Jamie?" She called from her place on the landing. James looked up at her, concern flashing in his eyes for a moment.

"You alright, love?" he asked carefully. Hermione smiled an angelic smile that chilled the Marauders to the bone. It was that smile—that one right there—that she always smiled before the pain came.

"I release you from all promises freely given," she said with that same beatific smile. James sat up sharply. Promises freely given…James, you promised her.

"Malfoy?" He breathed, an unholy light in his eyes. The smile widened. She came forward and kissed him on the cheek, and then went back up her stairs to the girl's dormitory.

HP/HG/HP

"On the go-od ship, lollipop, it's a swe-et trip," Malfoy was singing at the top of his lungs in the Great Hall.

James and Sirius were snickering into their pumpkin juice when Hermione sat down for breakfast. She blinked momentarily at the dance her ex-boyfriend was currently performing. She had had no idea that his singing voice was so pleasant. His dancing was quite good, too. Then again, most pureblood children took dancing lessons so maybe that wasn't much of a surprise. Merlin knew that James and Hermione had taken lessons from the age of five on. She turned to her brother.

"Who did that one, then?" she asked curiously. James grinned at her.

"That one was actually Remus' idea," he said pointing to their friend who had just come in and sat down next to Sirius. Hermione stood up, walked over to Remus, leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

"I think you're amazing," she whispered in his ear. Remus blushed furiously and stared open mouthed at Hermione as she left the Great Hall. Sirius frowned slightly.

HP/HG/HP

"Hermione! There you are!" Lily waved excitedly at her and hurried over. "I'm having a sort of a crisis and I need you!"

The girls found a deserted classroom to sit in and whisper.

"Lily, what's going on?" Hermione asked, worry in her hazel eyes. James' eyes. Lily swallowed nervously.

"It's Severus," Lily said brokenly, her beautiful green eyes filled with pain. Hermione gasped and stood up.

"Is he all right? Did something happen?" Hermione asked urgently. "It—it wasn't James, was it?"

"James? Who said anything about James," Lily laughed nervously. "No, this is just about me and Severus."

"He loves you," Hermione said quietly, understanding dawning on her suddenly.

"I know. Or at least, I know now. He asked me to be his girlfriend. I think I hurt his feelings. He won't speak to me or anything." Lily was babbling, but she was terrified that she'd just lost her best friend in the world. Well, her best friend next to Hermione.

"Oh, Lily," Hermione said sadly.

"I know," Lily moaned, putting her head in her hands.

"Poor Severus," Hermione murmured as she thought.

Intelligence was not a gift that Hermione Potter lacked, and she had seen the glances that Lily had been giving her brother. She frowned slightly. Perhaps…the fact that she existed, and was able to temper James' arrogance had altered reality. Lily was able to see, far sooner than she had previously, that James was loving, devoted, and caring. Maybe…but Severus' rejection by Lily might still drive him to Voldemort. That was something that Hermione Potter could not allow to happen. Not James, please, not James. If he was with Voldemort, if he overheard the prophecy and repeated it…Hermione started gasping, her hazel eyes staring in horror as she considered what might happen.

"Hermione?" The fear in Lily's voice brought her back to earth.

"Sorry, I was thinking," Hermione said hunching her shoulders.

"Hermione," Lily looked surprised and nervous, "you don't love Severus, do you?"

"I love him the same way that you do," Hermione said with a snort for the idea that she loved Severus in that way.

"Like a brother?" Lily asked and Hermione nodded.

"But what man wants to hear that the woman he loves loves him like a brother?" Hermione muttered, remembering a very uncomfortable conversation with Ron. Lily giggled slightly.

"Men? Women? We're only fourth years, Hermione," Lily teased. Hermione shook her head and looked at Lily seriously.

"Every teenage boy in love thinks he's a man grown, and every teenage girl in love is a woman," Hermione said dryly. "And no one, no one, has ever loved as they have loved."

"You sound like my grandmother," Lily gasped out between giggles. Hermione sighed. Sometimes she felt like a grandmother. Her double memories drove her crazy sometimes. She'd already lived and loved and lost.

"Lils, I have a very serious question, if you can stop laughing for a minute," Hermione said thoughtfully. Lily sat up straight and gave all her attention to Hermione. "Good, now, Severus, is he truly as a brother to you?"

"Well, yes, actually. He truly is." Lily said firmly. Hermione looked at her for a minute.

"Have you ever wondered why James and Sirius are so odd around one another? They are so close that I've had more than one girl ask if they were 'special' friends," Hermione said casually, looking at her nails. Lily made a strange noise.

"They…they aren't…are they?" Lily asked with a sense of dread.

No, but summer after second year my stupid brother and his idiot friend made a blood pact. My mother and father were furious. The yelling went on for days and days." Hermione said quietly, watching Lily's face. Lily looked confused.

"Why would they care? Tons of little boys become blood brothers, it's no big deal. Isn't it?" Lily stared at Hermione who had a certain look in her eye. "Is this another pureblood thing that I just don't understand?"

"Mmm," Hermione said noncommittally. "It's more of a magic thing that you don't know about because you weren't raised in the wizarding world. It all comes down to blood in the end. Blood is life, it is power, and for us, it is magic. So when an adolescent wizard and his little wizard buddy make oaths to one another and use blood to bind each other it's a little more binding that it is for muggle children. That's why my parents were so upset. James had just bound himself for life to a boy he'd just met. He also couldn't recall the exact oath because they hadn't bothered to write anything down—they just winged it. I thought my father was going to die of apoplexy right there in the parlor."

"Oh, wow." Lily breathed.

"Yeah, I sort of pity whoever marries James because they will have Sirius Black front and center in their lives," Hermione said slyly with a sideways glance at her friend.

"So why are you telling me all of this?" Lily demanded.

"Knowing everything, would you be willing to swear such an oath to Severus? And me?" Hermione asked carefully. "We will be much more intelligent with our oath, and it won't be quite as binding."

"Okay," Lily said with a nod. "Yes, I want Severus to know that I do care, and you think this oath will show him that, don't you?"

"Yes, I think it might. I just need to talk to him first and make sure he'll agree to it." Hermione replied.

HP/HG/HP

"Go away," Severus growled at Hermione when she tried to speak to him in the library.

"Severus," she whispered, her wide hazel eyes hurt. He frowned at her, and she saw a flash of pain in his dark eyes.

"What do you want," he muttered at her. She sat down from him and placed her hands delicately in her lap.

Severus observed her out of the corner of his eyes. He had exactly two friends that cared about him and liked him just the way he was. The friends that he had made in Slytherin weren't true friends. Well, maybe Lucius. He could talk to Lucius about private things and he knew that the older boy never repeated any of the information that Severus shared with him. Regardless, he only considered Lily and Hermione his true friends—the only people he could risk himself with—and they were both so different. Lily, the muggleborn witch, with her vibrant red hair and emerald green eyes was so passionate and alive. She lived every minute fully, and her emotions were always right there for the world to read. Hermione, the pureblood witch, with James Potter's hair and eyes was nothing like her twin brother. She was just as passionate as Lily, but she usually kept her emotions hidden. She always thought things through at least once before coming to a decision. Her delicate manners, and her cultured ways intrigued him—showing him a window into a world he longed to belong to.

"I want to talk to you, Severus. I care about you, and I don't like to see you in pain," Hermione said softly. He snorted derisively.

"Right. Do you love me like a sister, as well?" He sneered. She blinked at him.

"Yes," she said simply.

"Wait…what?" Severus looked confused.

"Severus, you know in your heart that Lily doesn't love you like a girlfriend. You two have known one another for far too long. You were children together. You, of all people, should know her heart," Hermione chided him softly, her eyes on her folded hands. Severus frowned.

"Maybe," he said finally, his shoulders slumping. Hermione peeked at him from under her unruly black curls.

So why are you trying to force what you know full well is not there?" Hermione asked gently. Severus' face darkened and then paled.

"I just…I don't want to lose her. If she dates him, then she'll never speak to me again. He'll make sure of it." Severus confessed in a whisper. Hermione rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his arm.

"Has he found a way to stop me?" Hermione asked him pointedly. At that moment Lucius Malfoy hopped by the Library as though he were a giant silver-haired bunny. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek so that she wouldn't laugh in front of Severus. He frowned after the Lucius-bunny and then looked at her.

"I suppose not," he said slowly. He knew that Lucius had ended the relationship, and he knew why. Lucius hadn't really spoken the words aloud, but Severus knew he was trying to protect Hermione.

"Then how could he stop Lils from being your friend?" She asked logically. Severus shrugged.

"I don't know," he muttered. Hermione sighed.

"Would you be willing to become our blood brother?" Hermione asked.

"Our?" Severus' eyebrows rose.

"Lily and I. We'd be your blood sisters," Hermione said with a slight smile. "Then James would never be able to stop you and her and I from being friends. We'd be family."

"Family?" The look on Severus' face was peculiar. Old Hermione felt a pang of sadness for Severus Snape. Hermione Potter nodded earnestly. "Okay, then."

HP/HG/HP

"I'm so glad that we did the oath-thingie," Lily said smiling at the tiny scar on her palm. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"The oath-thingie?" She repeated. "The oath-thingie?"

"Now, 'Mione, just because Lily doesn't know these kinds of things is no reason to get upset," Severus tried to be a mediator between his two sisters. Then he smiled like a loon. Sisters.

The three blood siblings were sitting under their favorite tree, studying and talking, but mostly just happy to be near their bonded siblings. Hermione had been much more careful than young James and Sirius had been, she knew that the future might request very dangerous things of all of them. However, there was a sense of happiness, of contentment when they were all together. Hermione raised an imperious brow at her blood brother.

"'Mione?" She asked. Severus shrugged.

"It's a sort of brotherly thing isn't it? To give you a nickname?" He asked innocently. Lily and Hermione shared an evil, evil smile.

"That's just fine, Sevvie-Wevvie-Poo," they cooed at him. He paled.

"That's not funny, at all," he said darkly. Both girls got up and danced around him shrieking 'Sevvie-Wevvie-Poo' and laughing. He glared at them.

"Aw, Sevvie-Wevvie-Poo is mad at us," Hermione said contritely. Lily snickered.

"We should try to cheer poor Sevvie-Wevvie-Poo up," she agreed. The girls looked at one another, grinned and then attacked him.

James and Sirius were strolling along the lake with Remus when they saw the girls pounce Severus. Their screams of laughter were clearly audible and both James and Sirius frowned. They moved toward the group under the tree, and realized that it was a full scale tickle fight.

"Do you surrender?" shrieked Hermione.

"No!" Severus panted.

"Er," James said.

"What's going on you guys?" Remus asked cautiously. Severus sat up, panting heavily, with an arm around each girl. Hermione and Lily were grinning down at him. James and Sirius frowned darkly.

"Nothing," Lily and Hermione said in identically angelic voices, their eyes wide. James grunted in irritation.

"Hermione," he said firmly. Hermione tried to push her wild curls out of her face.

"James, Lily and I are hanging out with our friend Severus. Is that a problem for you?" Hermione's voice was icy and cool and there was a martial gleam in her hazel eyes.

"Well, no, I guess not," he said slowly.

"Good. Come on, Severus, let's go," Hermione stood up and very publicly twined her fingers with Severus'. Lily did the same with his other hand. Both girls tilted their chins and marched off, dragging Severus with them.

When the end of the year came, Hermione could not help but feel much older at the end than she had been at the beginning. Old Hermione had helped her to gain insight into Lucius Malfoy's decisions. He hadn't wanted to become a Death Eater in the first place. His choices in Old Hermione's time therefore made sense. He'd been a reluctant convert, and many of his actions were governed by fear for his family's safety. Her heart constricted in her chest when she thought about Severus and Regulus. She'd already failed with Malfoy. Would she be able to save them, or would she fail again? She hoped not. She had far too much riding on the outcome. James would be safe, he had to be. Lily, her sister, she would be safe as well. Hermione could not accept failure with stakes such as these.