Chapter Five

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Disclaimer:

I don't own anything, except for my original scenes and characters. All belongs to JK Rowling.

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"There are all types of love in this world but never the same love twice."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Summer Holidays

"I can't believe your parents let you come to spend the holidays at my house!" Lily squealed, waving her hands around in excitement. "I can't believe it either!" Hermione cheered. The windows were open to let in the cool air, and as the breeze whipped her hair around her face, Hermione couldn't help but feel this was how summer was supposed to feel: refreshing, free, and fun.

They were on the way to Kings Cross Station, where Hermione would leave with Lily and Harry would leave with James. Perenelle and Nicholas were in France, to experience "the beauty of nature", and "being disconnected from magic for a little while."

Personally, to Hermione it sounded fun. Witches and wizards were too dependent on magic. Most didn't even know how to cook without it. "We're going to have so much fun this summer! We can go shopping, we can teach each other makeup tricks, oh, and most importantly, we can study together!" Lily bounced up and down. Lily's enthusiasm was catching on.

Hermione smoothed her silk dress, the one her mother had insisted she wear. Old Hermione had reminded her the silk dress would look a tad fancy, but Hermione just shrugged it off. She had grown up practically most of her life wearing such attire and saw nothing wrong with it.

But now, as she mentally compared her outfit with Lily's, she couldn't help but feel out of place. Lily was dressed in a simple t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts, while Hermione was wearing a pale yellow dress.

Oh well. Her father had given her a bag of muggle money, she was sure it would be enough to buy some appropriate muggle attire for daily wear.

The train rolled into a stop as they reached the platform. Lily jumped up and grinned down at Hermione. Hermione smiled widely back at her. It would be her first summer spent apart from Harry, and to be honest, she was relishing in the taste of freedom.

The idea of growing up so fast terrified and exhilarated her. Growing up meant she was closer to when she would take down Voldemort, and it also meant new experiences and knowledge. Old Hermione began reappearing less and less, seeming to respect Hermione's privacy and taking a backseat to see how she would solve problems and create solutions.

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The Evans' home was beautiful. It felt very homey and at the same time was also very airy, with wide windows and decorations in different shades of blue strategically placed.

Lily's room was on the second floor, a wide space of beautiful interior and refreshingly cool air. They had just entered the house and ducked out of the sweltering sun. Already, Hermione began to feel the vexation of the fabric sticking to her skin. She puffed up her cheeks and blew upwards, watching as a tendril of hair wafted up.

Lily caught sight of Hermione sweating—or "glowing" as Marlene referred it to as—and grinned knowingly. "Here," she called, as she tossed one of her T-shirts and a skirt over to the second bed Hermione was sitting on. Hermione took the cool material gratefully, blowing the girl a kiss and marching to the adjacent bathroom.

Much to her dismay, the skirt was too short. It didn't even reach her knees. The offensive material reached to about the a three quarters of her thigh, and Hermione groaned.

In a desperate attempt, Hermione tried summoning her wandless magic to try and lengthen the skirt, except it seemed as though even her magic refused to comply with her wishes.

Her left eyebrow twitched.

After much tugging, cajoling, and plain frustration, Hermione came to the conclusion the skirt wouldn't lengthen, unless she wanted to flash the waistband of her knickers for the world to see.

Walking out of the bathroom, she caught sight of Lily laying on her bed with Crookshanks curled up at her feet, and couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. Crookshanks seldom accepted anyone, let alone agreed spend time with anyone who wasn't Hermione. It pleased her to see her best friend and cat got along so well.

Lily stretched on her bed languidly, and sat up to see Hermione changed. Her lips stretched to form a very Slytherin-esque smile, and gushed, "You look so adorable!" In response, Hermione shot her a petulant look. "It's too short," Hermione complained as her right hand fidgeted with the hem of the skirt, her eyes shooting daggers.

Lily laughed. "It's supposed to be short." Her eyes were dancing. Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" She felt embarrassment course through her veins, as realization dawned upon her. She should've known it was a scheme of Lily's to try and get Hermione to show a little skin.

It was that Hermione didn't want to show skin, it was that she didn't feel as though it was necessary. There was also the factor that she never felt too comfortable being the object of stares, from male and female alike.

Judging by the stubborn glint in Lily's eyes, Hermione could tell the redhead wouldn't let her wear anything else except for the short skirt. Hermione sighed in exasperation.

At least she could tie her cardigan over it.

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After a long and heated debate with Lily on what attire was appropriate in public in a clothing store, Hermione finally decided on a flowy, white dress that came to about an inch or two above her knee. Lily stamped her approval, exclaiming this was totally Hermione's style.

The two currently sat in a muggle café, just enjoying the breeze and having a light lunch. Hermione sipped her juice through a striped straw. She pushed up her sunglasses from the bridge of her nose, and patiently listened to Lily's explanations about her sister. Secretly, Hermione felt awful for Lily. The muggleborn witch had tried so hard to stay in touch with Petunia over the years based off of Lily's stories, but Petunia just wasn't responding. She saw the hopeful looks on her friend's face when her owl would come back, only to discover her sister hadn't bothered to respond to a singe one of the long letters Lily wrote to Petunia.

Just as Hermione's fingers inched forward to snag a fry off of Lily's plate, a loud gasp cut her short. Lily looked as though she had seen a ghost, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. She looked like a fish out of water.

Hermione looked worriedly into the direction Lily was looking in. Her jaw dropped.

There, casually lounging and wearing sunglasses, were the Marauders. Hermione's eyes wandered over the group, before falling on Sirius. Her eyes seemed to fall on him naturally, and a slight smile tugged on her lips. Hermione seemed to be hearing Lily ranting in the background, but her eyes remained trained on one character.

"Hermione?" Lily asked worriedly. She snapped her fingers in front of Hermione's face. Hermione quickly blinked her eyes back into focus and scolded herself for focusing on Sirius Black. Sending a silent thank you to Morgana that she was wearing sunglasses that day, she quickly drew them off and looked into Lily's eyes.

She saw anger, annoyance, and most importantly, what she could make out as a tiny flicker of wistfulness. Hermione carefully hid her smile behind the rim of her juice glass.

"Oh, that complete and utter git!" Lily shrieked. "How did he know we would be here?" Hermione silently sighed as the redhead went on a long tirade about her disgust for no other than James Potter. She couldn't help but sometimes wonder if Lily only ranted to try and convince herself she disliked James. Lily stood up, and angrily huffed, "Let's go." Her eyes were stormy and Hermione didn't dare to argue against her. Hastily throwing down a couple of muggle bills, Hermione grabbed her cardigan and purse.

Lily suddenly stopped. "Oh!" She cried out. "Hermione, do you want to go say hi to your brother?" Lily's cheeks blushed red and having never thought of the notion that Hermione might want to say hello to Harry.

Hermione shrugged one slim shoulder. "No," she decided, "Harry would probably blush if he saw his sister wearing something like this." Then to emphasize her point, she smoothed her wrinkle-free dress. Lily giggled, a tinkling, melodic sound. "True," she laughed, "everyone is staring at you, 'Mione!" Lily hooked her arm through Hermione's and turned around. Hermione followed suit and was surprised to see several muggles staring at her and Lily. The women seemed to be staring with envy and jealousy, while the men stared with a look she could not comprehend but was similar to appreciation. Hermione blushed, a pretty pink tinge coloring her porcelain cheeks. Lily, however, was bolder. She flashed all of them a smile, before pulling Hermione into a cosmetics shop.

"And now," Lily cried out. "We shop!"

Hermione's answering groan covered the last part of her sentence.

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Hermione slouched into the Evans' home, exhausted. Lily followed suit, and tossed her keys into the basket by the door. The two leaned on each other as they huffed and puffed up the stairs to the attic.

Hermione threw herself down on the bed Mr and Mrs Evans had set up for her. Her mother would have an aneurysm if she saw how unladylike Hermione was acting. Lily marched off to take a shower, calling over her shoulder for Hermione to make herself at home.

Sitting up, Hermione looked at the pile of bags by her bed with a sigh. A small tugged at the corners of her lips. She had a blast with Lily this afternoon. They had gone into all of the shops, and didn't leave a single one empty-handed. Hermione discovered she loved muggle fashion. It was so comfortable, and she felt so free. She was able to move however she wanted, without fabric restricting her like how they did with her dresses.

Old Hermione had expressed her envy of the makeup Hermione had gotten. She got it solely so she would be able to disguise herself, but maybe, just maybe, it would be nice to dress up every once and a while.

Both girls had finished showering and were now curled up in their beds, ready to sleep. Hermione felt relaxed and calm. She discovered she loved girl time, which was surprising considering she had no female friends in her past life besides Ginny.

Lily was very relaxed. She had even mentioned she didn't think James looked bad, which Hermione stored away to tease her at another date.

"Honestly," Hermione cleared her throat. "I was actually really surprised when Sirius defended me against Severus. If you could call it that, of course. But I was just surprised he even bothered to speak up for me." Hermione's cheeks warmed and she looked down shyly.

Lily rolled her eyes at Hermione's naivety. "I already told you he had a massive fancy for you while we were drunk," Lily said, twirling a strand of red hair with her finger. Hermione felt rather dazed. She had no experience with teenage boys, besides the Yule Ball in fourth year and the sloppy kiss Ron Weasley had planted on her during her last life. "I didn't think you were being serious." Hermione muttered. Lily laughed. "I mean, we were drunk," Hermione explained, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Oh well," Lily sighed. "Time for bed." Lily sat up and tossed her covers forward to straighten them out, and turned her head and threw Hermione a smile. "Goodnight," Lily called out. "Goodnight," Hermione echoed.

She had a lot to think about.

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Summer break was rapidly ending. Hermione's hair was now lighter and had streaks of gold, an effect of spending much time outside in the sun. Lily had taken Hermione around her entire town, to show the latter her stomping grounds. Hermione had laughed in delight as Lily recounted the story of her jumping off a bridge when she was a kid to see if she would be able to fly.

She felt panicked about how quickly time was slipping by, in less than a week she would be starting Hogwarts. If her predictions and calculations were correct, Voldemort had roughly five Horcruxes by now: the diary, diadem, the Gaunt ring, Nagini, and Hufflepuff's cup. Hermione could feel her heart breaking as she thought of the idea of destroying such priceless artifacts handed down from the founders, but they had already been tainted by dark magic. Voldemort would only grow to be more powerful if they were not destroyed.

He was now widely known and feared. Hermione could now compare him to to the Voldemort Old Hermione knew and had fought. Just a few months ago, Eugenia Jenkins had been ousted from the office of Minister of Magic. She hadn't been able to combat the pureblood riots and Voldemort's rise, and had been deemed "inadequate." She was swiftly replaced by Harold Minchum.

Hermione wrinkled her nose as she ran her brush through her hair. All Minister Minchum had done was add even more dementors to Azkaban, which had not only failed to stop Voldemort in the future, but would also increase his power.

She and Harry were now stuck in an awkward position. Their plan was to strive to eradicate him by 1978, exactly one year after their graduation from Hogwarts. They were granted no freedom while in Hogwarts, there was no way they would be able to leave the castle long enough to successfully vanquish the horcruxes, and Hermione had no intention of looping Dumbledore into her plans. She didn't trust him enough, fair and simple.

Staring into her reflection in the mirror, she heard Lily's call.

"Hermione! Are you ready?" Lily knocked on the door of the washroom, and Hermione took a deep breath before answering. "Coming!" She called out, and closed the door behind her. The time to destroy Voldemort would come, but for now, she was determined on enjoying her youth for as long as she could.

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Sixth year was flying by. Remus seemed to have gotten over his embarrassment at being snogged in front of everyone, and now participated regularly in Hermione and Lily's library sessions. Sometimes the rest of the Marauders tagged along. James came solely for the sake of Lily, Remus came to study, Peter came to make sure he could pass, and Harry came to research spells he could use for duels. Hermione just didn't get why Sirius came along. They were all wickedly smart, shown obviously through their academic rankings in their Year. She supposed it could be because since everyone else was there, he felt an obligation to also be present.

Speaking of which, today was one of those study days. Flitwick had hinted heavily that there would be a quiz given the following Monday, and Lily had promptly dragged Hermione off to study. They were now all seated around the table, joined by Marlene and Dorcas. Hermione had an inking suspicion Dorcas had come just to stare at Harry, but brushed it off. If the looks Harry was trading with Dorcas was any indication, he was just as infatuated with her as she was with him.

Shaking her head resolutely, Hermione bended back down to her textbook. She wasn't actually studying, and had charmed a book on Fiendfyre to look like a charms textbook to anyone else. Sighing when she saw another complicated-looking formula, Hermione looked up. Normally, she enjoyed solving formulas and understanding new concepts, but today she had a pounding headache and all she wanted to do was sleep. Moving her eyes from the ceiling to across the table, she was taken aback by Sirius Black.

His dark hair hung low in front of his eyes. Looking at his eyes closely, Hermione could see that they were lazily scanning through the text. His right hand was twirling a quill. Hermione creased her eyebrows. There was no use in denying Sirius Black had become very attractive. He was no longer the innocent-looking eleven year old she had met on the train. Sometimes, even Hermione had to wrestle a blush when he would throw her a wicked smirk.

He must've felt her eyes on him, because he looked up. He smirked at Hermione. Hermione could feel her cheeks heating up furiously for him discovering she was staring at him. Resolutely looking back down at her text, she ignored his soft laughter.

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It was nighttime. The castle was silent, almost abnormally so. During the day, the halls were normally bustling with chatter and energy, the glorious rays of youth filling up every nook and cranny in Hogwarts.

Hermione crept along the stone wall. She idly wondered what would happen if Filch or Mrs Norris happened to find her. It didn't matter to them that it was her shift for patrolling. To Filch, it only mattered he had a new victim. She knew he would drag her back to his office and threaten to hang her by her ankles. Typical Filch.

It was Hermione's shift to patrol the halls that night to make sure no students were out of bed. So far, there was nobody out. It seemed as though everyone were in the safety of their dorm rooms. Wrapping her arms around her midsection, Hermione sighed wistfully. She tucked a strand that had fallen out of her messy bun to behind hear ear. Not looking as to where she was going, Hermione rounded a corner and crashed into a body. Her breath hitched in her throat. Looking up, she felt momentary relief. It was Severus. He had grown several inches over the summer, and now towered over her.

Not waiting for Hermione to speak, he dragged her into the nearest classroom and threw up several silencing wards."What are you doing?" Hermione shrieked. Severus turned around, and she instantly felt bad for screaming. His eyes looked tormented—haunted, almost—and he opened his mouth.

"Listen to me," he said. His voice was low in urgency. "Be careful. Don't leave the tower alone, and don't go anywhere alone." By the time Severus finished his sentence, his lips were pressed in a thin line.

"So now you care, huh?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Hermione instantly regretted them. Here he was, trying to warn her and she was being stubborn and arbitrary. She bit her lip. Just as she opened her mouth to apologize, Severus cut her off.

His jaw was clenched and his hands were shaking with anger. "I don't care if you died." He spat out. "But your brother and Black would hunt me down and kill me." Severus glared at her fiercely. Hermione tried to hold in the tears.

The door suddenly burst open.

A crowd of Slytherin boys in her year came tumbling in, obviously drunk. "Having a lovers spat, Snape?" Avery crowed. The others jeered cruelly. Hermione felt trapped standing in a circle filled with people who if given the chance, would no doubt kill her without a second thought.

"With a blood traitor like her?" Severus sniffed. "Never." He turned away from Hermione and the rest of the boys followed. Hermione was left standing there alone. She knew he didn't mean it, if the glance he threw back at her before he stormed out was any indication.

As soon as the door slammed shut, her knees gave up on her and she fell to the floor. Her emotions began to pour out. Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if she could've done something to stop what Severus had said to her and Lily that day by the lake, which had been the catalyst of this entire mess.

Hermione could understand how awful he must've felt, with the Marauders antagonizing him and ridiculing him from the very start of his journey at Hogwarts. Leaning back, her head hit contact with the stone wall and tears squeezed out from under her eyelids.

Beneath all of their good looks and pranks, Hermione could sometimes see the cruelness they held for the Slytherins. The Gryffindor house wasn't as good as it seemed, as not everything that glitters is gold. They were favored by seemingly every teacher, and most Gryffindors were biased and prejudiced against Slytherins. Hermione wasn't blind. She saw the crying Slytherin first years that had been rejected by all of their peers, and the way some Gryffindors seemed to think they got a free pass to bully Slytherins just because of their standing in Hogwarts' social hierarchy. They were the loud, fun house, the one even Dumbledore himself had been in, and always threw parties that made everyone want to get an invitation to.

Hermione supposed the bias against Slytherins added onto how Potter seemed determined to win Lily's heart, with Lily slowly reciprocating his feelings had been a factor into what had caused Severus to break loose that day. She didn't blame him. She knew he didn't mean it, and the way he had tried to warn her today had proven he still cared for her.

Thinking back to her actions earlier, Hermione wanted to smack herself. She had no right to speak to him that way, and it had only added fuel to the fire.

She wiped her tears away determinedly. Her resolve hardened. She delighted in solving problems, and this would be no difference.

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AN: the next update should be coming in around a month, but i cannot make promises. i've been visiting relatives in China recently for Chinese New Year, but due to the new coronavirus i don't know what the future holds out for me. thank you for reading, beta love to LyraTwilight.