A/N: This is a little something I've been working on since October of last year and that I finally managed to complete tonight. I hope everyone enjoys it. :)

REVISED: 16.11.16.

what the water gave me

She had told him that she was a time traveller one morning nonchalant as anything, as if dropping what she would call a "bombshell" (whatever a bomb was) was completely in the realm of ordinary whilst buttering herself a slice of toast.

They had been in their cottage in a quaint little village called Godric's Hollow at the time; a cheery place she insisted they buy with sky blue walls and waxed wooden floors, a garden full of wildflowers and a swing he usually pushed her on out the back. He was sitting at the table his mother had bought them as a housewarming gift, shovelling sausage and scrambled eggs into his mouth when suddenly 'I'm a time traveller, James. Just thought you'd like to know,' slipped from her pretty bow lips. She had smiled warmly at his justifiably stunned expression (who wouldn't be stunned speechless when your practically flawless girlfriend of several years randomly comes out and says 'oh love, I come from the future; by the way, would you like a slice of lemon in your tea?') before walking over to pat her lover on the cheek. The laughing explanations started once James had again found his voice.

James Potter had to admit that the admission from his not yet fiancé (and it would happen—it was only a matter of time, no pun intended) wasn't what he had expected to hear while eating breakfast but really, his life even before Hermione Granger had entered the picture in an explosion of time-turner sand (he'd believed it to be sparkly dust at the time; a daft thought from a daft mind, really) was never ordinary. He was a wizard after all; a "thumpin' good 'un" if his old mate Rubeus Hagrid had anything to say about it, and as a wizard who could turn toadstools into teacups and could himself transform into a magnificent stag (an illegal act according to their government apparently but hey, James hadn't been caught yet!), the idea of time travel wasn't so farfetched, right?

Wrong.

As it turned out his beloved Hermione Jean Granger with hair as bushy as could be and eyes like melted chocolate had come from a time nearly twenty (yes, twenty) years in the future where his son had been her very best friend and they had fought in a war against the Dark Lord Voldemort. Now, in 1980 Lord Voldemort had over the past few years been proving himself to be quite the evil mastermind in Great Britain; gathering followers in likeminded wizards as well as werewolves, giants and dementors for a war against the Ministry of Magic and the magical world itself. Lord Voldemort's uprising, which would one day come to be known as the "Blood Wars" in history of magic texts had broken out due to blood purity—in the eyes of Voldemort and his cronies those who were not born of magical parents deserved neither their magic nor their very lives. These new "magicals", tainting bloodlines, stealing jobs and enforcing their ideals on a world that was not made with them in mind needed to be exterminated before they could ruin the magical world more than they already have.

Now while James as a pureblood (and a pureblood from one of the old families to boot) was not a target for this senseless slaughter his Hermione, a muggleborn herself was not, nor was James' best mate's girl Lily Black née Evans; the woman who (rather unbelievably in James' mind) had been the mother to the very son whom Hermione had befriended in the years to come and who he and Lily had died for in their future.

Tell a lie though, to be completely truthful James had once believed that he would one day marry Lily Marie Evans. Back when he had been fifteen and stupid (so very, very stupid) he was convinced that the fiery redhead had been the most amazing person other than himself (and his best mates) to have walked the hallowed grounds of Hogwarts (and therefore the earth itself ever) and as such believed that they would upon graduation get married and have beautiful lives and beautiful children together. It would've been perfect, like a story out of The Tales of Beedle The Bard only without the silly life lesson that James had never cared for in it.

Thus, every day upon his realisation that Lily was better than Zonko's, firewhiskey and pranks themselves he had developed radical schemes that grew more and more creative with time to get the muggleborn witch to go out with him. Lily however just wasn't interested and despite all of James' hard work had rejected his every attempt. And rejected him soundly. It also turned out Lily had been very into Sirius at the time, but that was another story. So despite being quite crushed with every refusal James would gather his courage and try again, at least he did until one day in October 1977 when Hermione Granger quite literally fell into his life.

Broom hoisted over his shoulder and hair windswept after a wonderful afternoon of flying, James had been making his way back to the castle when a shrill scream coming from somewhere above him had him look up into the sky. Eyes widening comically when he spotted what he thought was a person with long hair plummeting from the heavens in a spray of golden dust, acting quickly James dropped his broom to the ground, reached out and caught the still screaming girl in his arms, stumbling a little from the added weight.

"Whoa! Are you alright, love?" He asked desperately as he eyed the rather sparkly person in his arms, checking for any signs of injury with a sharp glare.

The girl who looked about his age merely stared at James in abject horror before suddenly speaking, her voice high with nerves. "You cannot be serious."

Upon advising that no, his name was not Sirius and that it was in fact James, James Potter and that it was very nice to meet such a pretty girl, the young witch removed herself from his embrace and asked (more like demanded) that he take her to see Albus Dumbledore as this was Hogwarts, right? Rather bewildered at the frosty reception (James was a handsome bloke after all and knew full well that any girl bar Lily Evans practically melted whenever he winked their way), James felt compelled to do as the young witch asked and as such led her up to Dumbledore's office. He had later blinked in surprise when the girl thanked him rather acidly at the griffin knocker and told him in as many words that she would be fine from there, disappearing up the staircase with nary a second glance.

And so it began.

That evening found James facing the odd girl (now free of glitter) once again as Dumbledore announced before the entire school that they had a new student joining them for the remainder of their seventh year, a Miss Hermione Granger. Upon setting the Sorting Hat upon her pretty yet kinky (really, this girl's hair was worse than his and that was saying something) head it barely took the Hat a moment for it to scream the name of Gryffindor, much to the delight of everybody seated at the house of lions. Looking only mildly alarmed Hermione Granger walked to his table and squeezed into the spare spot beside a smiling Mary Macdonald; the two seemingly hitting it off and within minutes were joking and laughing with one another as if they'd been friends for years.

James took this small moment in time to eye the pretty witch (and she really was quite pretty, he had mused to himself when she didn't look like a leprechaun had spit up sparkles on her) and for the first time in a very long time he found someone more interesting to look at than Lily. As said before, she had absolutely wild hair. No, really. Her hair was like the personification of Gryffindor itself; bushy and tangled and riotous like the mane of a lion despite being wrestled into a cute little plait that she had draped over her shoulder. It was as if her hair had a personality all of its own and simply decided that it rather liked defying gravity. James would later come to find that her hair really became her and that despite its looks was incredibly soft to the touch. In the future he would tangle his fingers in that soft hair so often before crushing his lips to hers that it felt like his fingers belonged there; her hair was simply her. Looking past the hair that drew much of his attention, James also found that Miss Hermione Granger had plump, full lips and there was an adorable strip of freckles across the bridge of her nose and dusting her cheeks. But her eyes, oh Merlin, her eyes. Okay, sure, they were brown but there was so much more to them than that; peering closer he could see the different flecks of colours in those deep chocolate irises, the swirling shades of brown, gold and even green. She was beautiful. A classic beauty and an absolute stunner.

And he quickly found out that she hated him. And no, it wasn't one of those silly teenaged 'I hate you!'s but the serious 'I spit in your face, kick you in the testes and leave you alone to die!', kind of hates. And James wasn't even kidding. Yes, it had to be that serious kind of hate; what kind of person would go to the lengths Hermione Granger did to ignore another person if they didn't hate them with every fibre of their being? Not even Snivelly or James' beloved Lily had treated him so cruelly!

It was interesting though. James came to find that she seemed to ignore all of them. Himself, Sirius, Remus, Peter and by Dumbledore's beard, she rarely even talked to Lily! Lily, who despite her dislike of James and his mates (bar Remus) and certain arsehole Slytherins (no need to guess who those twats were) was as sweet as treacle tart to everyone; and Hermione ignored her! Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!

More often than not she'd sequester herself off in the library reading tomes thicker than her entire torso or if she wasn't in the library she'd be in the Hogwarts kitchens (how she'd managed to locate the place that took the Marauders two years to find James had no idea) debating with house elves about their freedom and equal rights much to their displeasure. But if she couldn't be found in her regular haunts she would be with the lovely Mary Macdonald, still ignoring James. It just wasn't right. There had to be something wrong with this girl. And James sought to find out just what that was.

So what started as an idle thought late one night soon became a mission with the highest of stakes; he quickly found himself forgetting about Lily Evans, the witch who was either ignoring or scolding him, and whom he had absently noticed had appeared to be looking more appraisingly at an awkward Sirius Black lately; a Sirius who certainly didn't appear to be rebuffing her subtle advances either…forget her. As interesting as Lily Evans was this new, brilliant and absolutely amazing girl who could answer all the questions in class was just that much more interesting. This new girl who was as beautiful as she was passionate, who was as powerful as she was wise…she was The One for him, James came to realise as he watched her cast a perfect, corporeal patronus in DADA (it was an otter by the way, chittering and adorable just like she was) one morning in January, she was his endgame.

Merlin knew how he came to that decision but it was true. And he was going to fight for this girl. Lily Evans was child's play. This time, he was playing to win.

"Soo, Mione. How'd you find the kitchens?" James asked cheerily one evening, flopping onto the bench beside the frowning witch in the kitchens with what he believed was an especially saucy grin. He ran a hand through his rumpled locks and raised a bushy eyebrow in an attempt to look sexier. Sirius had told him he looked good when he did it and why would his best mate lie?

Hermione merely looked at James rather distastefully before drawing her cup of tea to her lips, taking a sip before setting the polka-dot patterned china down on its saucer. "Don't call me Mione."

"Herms?"

"No."

"Hermy?"

"Merlin, no!"

"What?" James cajoled in amusement, grinning at the affronted look on the pretty young witch's face. "So you don't like nicknames?"

"My parents named me Hermione." She replied shortly, her eyes narrowed. "Not Hermy, Herms, Mione, Mia or Mi, Hermione. Understand?"

This was the most that Hermione had ever said to James in a conversation before and to be completely honest he was more focused on the way she pursed her lips to speak rather than the words themselves. Whoever thought a girl could look so sexy while reprimanding him? Sure, Lily had looked cute when her cheeks would puff up to yell at him (like a newborn bicorn and it was adorable) but this girl made yelling go straight to his groin. He imagined those tantalising lips pressing against other places and James couldn't help but shiver. It was hot and he was smitten.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hermione stated sharply and James blinked at the tone, his cheeks unbelievably reddening in slight embarrassment at being caught not paying attention.

James Potter, blushing? He never thought he'd live to see the day!

"Of course, Hermione." he replied breezily, batting an absent-minded hand while smiling winningly again. "No nicknames, got it!"

The two eyed each other for a moment, James revelling in the chance to drag his eyes all over her pretty face, playing connect-the-dots with her freckles without actually touching her. But one day he would. One day he vowed he would trace those freckles with his fingertips and then his tongue. It was only a matter of time and when it counted James could absolutely be patient.

"I don't understand your interest in me, James Potter." She suddenly stated, eyeing him distrustfully. "It's not as if we've ever actually had a conversation before."

"Welllll, at the risk of sounding like an obnoxious prat you and I both know that I wasn't the one doing the avoiding. However, I'm sure you've also noticed we're talking now~"

"Nonetheless," she interrupted, leaning forward in her seat. "What's your motive?"

"Motive?" James repeated innocently, raising his eyebrows. "Whatever makes you think I have a motive to talk to a pretty little thing like you?"

"You're James Potter." She replied bluntly. "Of course you do."

James drew a hand to his chest and threw his head back. "Oh, the pain!" He cried in a wounded voice, "The agony!"

Hermione snorted and James thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever heard. "I very much doubt that."

"You wound me, Hermione." he pointed to his heart in an exaggerated movement. "Right here."

"Drama Queen." Hermione's lips threatened to curve into a smile and James' heart melted. "But honestly, what's going on in that inflated head of yours?" She mused quietly, eyeing him appraisingly. "I thought I made it rather obvious that I wasn't interested."

"And don't you think that's made me all the more motivated?"

"I'm not that interesting."

"Oh, now I wouldn't be so sure about that."

And so they started talking more. James would find Hermione wherever she was with the brilliant map he and his mates had crafted and they would talk. Well, James would talk at first about anything and everything he could possibly think of and Hermione would proceed to ignore him, her head stuck in whatever text she was reading to be even farther ahead in class than what one considered necessary at the time; but James would talk and Hermione would pretend she wasn't listening and things were good for a while.

The snow on the grounds soon melted and the weather grew warmer as Spring and their imminent graduation approached. It was an exasperated Lily who demanded one morning at breakfast that a flabbergasted Sirius just 'ASK HER OUT ALREADY!' in February and Remus threw himself into his studies as the NEWTs were only around the corner. And though none of the Marauders noticed, Peter had been disappearing a lot lately.

James on the other hand found himself falling more and more in love with the mysterious Hermione Granger with each of their encounters; the girl who seemed beyond shocked that Lily and Sirius had finally gotten their act together and the girl James had come to discover would constantly have her fingertips stained with ink and worried her bottom lip whenever she was nervous. She was as close to perfection as a person could get and he knew that they would be just so amazing if she let whatever it was that was bothering her about them being together go.

They would soon spend many hours of the day together; James acting like the complete goof he knew he was and Hermione often reprimanding him with a small smile. How he came to live for those smiles of hers… He found himself needing to see those full lips curved in amusement (preferably directed toward him) every day in order to keep himself going; his day just wasn't complete without a Hermione smile.

He loved her.

He well and truly loved her.

It was a sunny day in March and James was trailing Hermione to the library (he assumed) when the two spotted Sirius and Lily kissing quite passionately in a hallway. Sirius had Lily hiked up against the wall and Lily's hands were in Sirius' hair and their tongues could clearly be seen tangling quite enthusiastically. Hermione squeaked in surprise and covered her eyes while James roared with laughter, bending over to pick up the books that had tumbled out of her arms.

"Oi, Padfoot!" he called upon straightening, grinning. "Evans! Get a room, yeah?"

Sirius and Lily separated as if burned, Sirius actually dropping Lily and causing the redhead to squeal in alarm as he swivelled around to face his best friend.

"Prongsie!" he greeted cheerily, waving. "You're just jealous you can't get any!" He leered at Hermione who glared in response before looking over at a similarly glaring Lily Evans, his expression instantly softening. "Mind you not all of us are lucky enough to have our very own Lily-flower! Who by the way is also practically perfect in every way!"

"Oh yes, Evans there is a lucky woman indeed." replied James with a wry grin, raising an eyebrow at the visible flush on Lily's cheeks. "She looks very content indeed, dogbrother."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Course she is, what kind of woman, or man for that matter, would say no to these sexy lips, eh?"

"Sexy lips?" James looked wildly around the corridor before directing his gaze to Hermione, a salacious grin of his own tugging at his lips. "The only sexy lips I see are Miss Granger's here, I don't see any others, mate."

"You're denying my sexy lips?" Sirius whined dramatically. "I thought what we had was special!"

"We were drunk and fourteen years old, Pads." retorted James with an amused laugh, foggily recalling the infamous firewhiskey incident at his home when the two had downed a few too many. Toward the end of the night there had been a rather sloppy kiss of 'true platonic man-love' that resulted in Remus beside himself with laughter and Peter in tears. "And then you tried to shove your tongue in my ear, you wanker!"

Quickly turning to Lily with his eyes filled with what James recognised as Sirius' infamous crocodile tears, the long-haired teen blubbered, "Lily-flower, James is denying my sexy lips! Tell him otherwise! Tell him they're sexy and that your favourite thing to do is snog them!"

Lily rolled her eyes exasperatedly, having heard the firewhiskey story through Remus not much longer after it had happened (the traitor! Lily had teased them both for weeks) before smiling fondly at her boyfriend in amusement. "I don't really see the point in letting Potter know about your lips and improvement in skills Sirius when the only person you're going to be snogging in the foreseeable future is myself. But for the sake of stroking that ridiculously sized ego of yours; yes Potter, my boyfriend passably sexy lips."

"Passably!" crowed Sirius in disbelief, "I'll show you passably!" He threw his arms around his squirming girlfriend and pressed said lips to her throat, grinning widely at Lily's sudden wriggling.

"Get off me you goof!"

"Never!"

James snickered in amusement before squawking when Lily and Sirius proceeded to kiss again. "That's enough, now! I'm Head Boy and I will take points!"

Sirius merely flipped James the bird with one hand while tangling the other in Lily's wine-red hair, grinning into the kiss and Lily doing the same.

"Urk! That's it, we're out of here!" James laughed, moving to nudge Hermione who was quickly turning red again in embarrassment at the sight of the two Gryffindors practically going at it against the wall. "Come on, love. I don't think either of us would care to watch soft-core porn when we could be studying for our NEWTs." Hermione eyed James incredulously and James merely raised his eyebrows in expectation. His beloved was just far too cute. "I'm being serious! Well, not Sirius, for if I were I'd currently be snogging Evans there—but whatever. Come on, let's leave before they start shucking clothes off." James moved to grip Hermione's hand and led her down the hall, marvelling at the softness of her skin beneath his fingers.

"James,"

Wow, okay it's not just skin but more like silk…

"James."

I wonder if all of her feels like her hands…

"James!"

James blinked in surprise and looked down at a still red-faced Hermione who was attempting to tug her hand out of his grip. James grinned at her rather feeble attempts before releasing her hand, snickering when she stumbled slightly. "You're just going to let them continue on?" She demanded shrilly, jerking her head in the direction in which Sirius and Lily were still surely going at it—wow, James knew that Sirius had a good set of lungs on him but that was one impressive display of lung capacity on Lily's part! He was impressed! "James!"

James smiled warmly at Hermione's bewildered expression. "But why would I want to spoil that?" He asked her mirthfully, his smile widening at the realisation that his brother in all but blood was truly happy with the fiery redhead. And to think that he had almost come between that? "You can see that they're having a good time. I may be Head Boy but I'm not going to go out of my way to spoil my best mate's fun, Hermione."

"B-but it's Lily!"

James blinked owlishly. "Yeah, it's Evans and Sirius." He spoke slowly, eyeing Hermione more closely. She looked completely flabbergasted. "What of it?"

"But you and Lily!"

"Lily and I what?"

"You two were something, weren't you?" Hermione burst angrily, chest heaving. "You love her, don't you?"

James blinked again. "Me? In love with Lily Evans?" And to her further surprise he guffawed, laughing loudly for so long that tears streamed down his cheeks. "You honestly thought me and Evans would get together!? Have you been inhaling some of Slughorn's potions or something? Me and Evans!" James burst into laughter again. "You're kidding!"

Hermione crossed her arms under her chest and James momentarily went cross-eyed himself. "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

James appraised Hermione slowly, a little extra attention given to that bust of hers that she had so generously amplified for him with her arms before shaking his head. No, she looked very serious indeed. "…Really, Hermione?" He asked softly, his gaze on her face. "You really thought I could have a thing for her?"

"Mary Macdonald said you did." She replied shortly, suddenly looking confused and more than a little lost. It was rather disconcerting. "And I know she's not lying."

James ran an uncomfortable hand through his hair. "Well," he stated awkwardly, "I won't deny that I had feelings for Evans once, 'coz I did. But that was a very long time ago."

Hermione's beautiful brown eyes widened in complete surprise. "What?"

James rolled his own.

Was she really that oblivious?

"For someone so very clever you can also be incredibly dense at times, Hermione." James replied with a smile, eyeing her fondly. "…Can't you see how good they are together?"

"But you and Lily—"

"No, Lily and I…no. Just no." James shook his head. "Lily's a great girl, I'm not going to deny that. Brilliant, scary and lovely all rolled up into a tiny package. She's great. Sure, I might've thought we'd have been amazing once but I've come to realise that she's just not the girl for me." James looked intently into Hermione's eyes. "Have you seen the way they look at each other?" He murmured, reaching out to brush a finger against Hermione's cheek, both shivering when James made contact. "She looks to him as if he's the sun and he her as if she were his greatest salvation." James smiled. "They make each other happy. You can see that, right?"

Hermione still looked as if someone had whacked her repeatedly around the head but she still nodded. "…I do, but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You deserve to be happy, too!" She replied in a near-shout before recoiling in embarrassment at her outburst, cheeks flaming.

James couldn't help the grin that spread across his lips. "Oh, I do, do I?" He asked quietly, still smiling. "Can you think of someone who could possibly make me happy?" He breathed into her ear, tangling his fingers in her lion locks for the very first time.

Hermione's cheeks pinked and she ducked her head. "I'm all wrong for you, James." She whispered sadly, raising her head to meet James' gaze. "You need to know that."

"And you need to know I don't believe that," replied James. "I think you're perfect."

"James…"

"Sirius deserves the love that Lily can give him, and you deserve the love I can give you. Because I do love you, you know." James grinned at Hermione's starry-eyed expression. "Hey. Don't look so shocked. You don't realise how amazing you are, do you?" James' wide grin turned soft. "Take the plunge, Hermione. You'll never know what you've missed out on if you never take the leap."

Hermione looked at James, and looked at him for a long time. And when she spoke James swore he heard fireworks.

"...Okay."

"Pardon me?" His eyes had bugged out comically and Hermione laughed, nodding.

"You heard me!" Hermione beamed. "Okay!"

James heart nearly threatened to beat out of his chest and he swept Hermione into his arms, spinning them both around and cheering.

"You've just made me the happiest man alive." He breathed and Hermione smiled.

"You make me pretty happy too," She replied softly, reaching forward to cup James' cheeks with her palms before drawing her lips to his.

The next morning found James standing on top of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall announcing his and Hermione's union with a shout and the grin that made many girls' hearts flutter. He went on to say that they were eventually going to be married and preferred that wedding gifts be in the form of chocolate frogs and/or kitchen appliances. Boys wolf-whistled, girls squealed and Hermione hurled an apple at James' head so hard that it knocked him clear off the table; never she'd hissed at him afterwards had she been so mortified in her life! Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mary and Lily naturally found this absolutely hilarious and when a pouting James slowly got to his feet Hermione whacked him on the chest for good measure before giving him a kiss to 'make it all better'.

They went on to have a beautiful relationship for their remaining time at Hogwarts; a relationship with many kisses, marriage proposals (with Hermione always replying 'keep dreaming, love,'), sexy talk in unused classrooms and plenty of laughter. How could one not laugh while being in a relationship with James Potter after all? Such a thing was near impossible! Sure, they had spats every now and then (what couples didn't?), but these fights were quickly resolved when the two would sit down and discuss their issues. They truly did hate fighting with one another and nothing hurt James more than seeing Hermione upset.

If possible James fell harder and harder with each passing day and after they'd made love for the first time in James' painstakingly decorated for the occasion Head bedroom Hermione told James she loved him too.

James remembered every minute detail of that night; every little detail he knew of Hermione. Her breathy words of love and the vision of her head thrown back in ecstasy, crying out his name as she came. Her hair like a lion's mane and eyes like liquid chocolate; her beautiful, cheeky smile and the image of those adorable freckles that were everywhere for a long time provoked his most powerful patronus.

His friends loved her too which he believed was an added bonus. They liked how she made him happy (though his sappiness and occasional soliloquy focused on the beauty of one of her random body parts irritated the absolute shite out of them) and how a single look from her could keep him in line. Remus found in Hermione a study-buddy who actually cared about her grades and a girl who didn't care about his 'furry little problem'—how she'd found out, nobody knew; for Sirius he found someone with whom he could constantly debate with (and boy were those debates heated!)…and Pete, well. Hermione didn't really like Peter for reasons she didn't explain and the feeling was quite mutual. They appeared to tolerate each other for James' sake but the dislike was there. And in Hermione Lily found someone capable of handling the Marauder madness. Someone she could laugh and conspire with. Hermione slipped into their clique (bringing with her the seventh year sweetheart Mary Macdonald) as if she'd been there from the beginning and the thought of it warmed James' heart.

They decided they would move in together after graduation in a nice place Hermione found in the real estate section of the Prophet and pay off with their jobs. James borrowed some money from his mother that Hermione insisted they would pay back (to Missus Potter's dismay) to purchase the house; James and Hermione both wishing to prove that they could do things on their own.

James wanted to work for the ministry. He wanted to be an Auror and he wanted to help fight in the war. He also knew that the idea absolutely terrified Hermione but he knew that as an Auror he would learn the advanced skills necessary in order to protect those he loved; he would learn how to better protect Hermione. Hermione too wished to work for the ministry, and while her dream was to work to better magical creature rights, given the war that the Great Britain was currently embroiled in with no current end date in sight she too decided that it would be better suited for her to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And when the war was over she had told James she would instigate change for magical creatures at the Wizengamot level with all of her additional Ministry experience to back her proposals. Nobody could dare stop her then.

Before graduation Albus Dumbledore recruited the seven of them for his Order of the Phoenix; an elite secret society whose main purpose was to combat Voldemort and his Death Eaters. James, Sirius and Hermione were all equally quick in offering their wands and their services to help the cause, with Lily, Mary and Remus a little reluctant at first before acquiescing. Peter on the other hand didn't agree at all in the beginning and it took talks from Sirius, Remus and James himself at a later date to get their friend to even consider it. Either way, James saw it as a complete honour that he was asked to be a member whilst still technically a student—to think that Dumbledore thought that highly of his skills! It was incredible! Dumbledore was also most pleased given the positions that the majority of them were in for their future employment in the ministry, and Remus was especially important in his own right with his furry little affliction. Dumbledore told the group that he could contact them when the time came for an Order meeting and to be prepared for a phoenix feather at any time, much to James' excitement.

It was a warm day toward the end of June when they graduated Hogwarts; Hermione scoring the highest marks the school had seen since Albus Dumbledore himself was a student while James performed quite well himself, ranking fifth best amongst his peers. Sirius, Lily and Remus scored higher than James but that was to be expected; James had always been more athletic than academic and nobody cheered louder than he when his friends accepted their graduation parchments. The Marauders set off a spectacular fireworks display that turned their teachers red and gold after the ceremony in celebration of what truly marked an end of an era; an era that James knew would live on forever. The age of the mischief-making Marauders. He just knew. Besides, he and his mates had been sure that they'd left pieces of their legacy behind for the future generations; it was just a matter of these kids managing to find them. Hopefully his own children would one day? But James had certainly left behind plenty of hints.

The train ride home started off rowdy before slowly turning sombre. Hermione and Lily spent much of the remaining afternoon in their respective boyfriends' embraces to their delight, Hermione eventually nodding off and resting her head on James' shoulder while Lily dozed in Sirius' lap.

James looked at his best friends and there was a hardness in his eyes. His voice thick with emotion when he spoke. "We're always gonna stick together, right? This isn't the end?"

Sirius shook his head to James' statement, smiling fondly. "Do you really think after everything we've been through we're going to separate now, Prongsie?"

James grinned at the expressions on his best friends, no, his brothers' faces.

These were the boys who never turned their backs on each other. The lads who went days without sleeping studying complex Transfiguration to keep one company on the bright nights once a month. Who lied shamelessly and risked their lives for each other, who laughed and cried and pranked and fought and grew up together for the past seven years. And hopefully there would be many years to come. School may have ended but life was only just beginning and James was so glad to have his friends by his side. He looked from Sirius, with his long black hair, careless grin and bark-like laugh to Remus with his scars and his moodiness and selfless heart and Pete, Pete with his loyalty and wit so dry it took even James by surprise. Yes, James looked to his friends and then briefly down at Hermione, smiling fondly and carded his fingers through her hair.

"Come Hell and high earth, we're the Marauders and we're brothers." proclaimed Remus and the four boys—no, the four young men grinned at each other like they were eleven years old and had just pulled off their first successful prank all over again.

"Soooo," added Sirius after a moment of reflection, grinning cheerfully. "There's a full moon next Tuesday—what's the plan?"

Yes, James thought as he joined in with the planning of the next week's full moon adventure as if there was nothing wrong, as if nothing wasn't ending forever, like everything was going to be just fine when they got off this train and the world around them turned on its axis, there were things worth dying for.

"Tell me what you think."

"You've redecorated." Sirius stated blithely as he eyed the dark blue front door before turning to James, his expression frank. "I don't like it."

James sputtered, caught between indignation and extreme amusement over his best friend. "Course I redecorated! I moved house you idiot!"

It was a cold evening in December 1979 the night Hermione told James she was pregnant. It was snowing outside in Godric's Hollow at the time and the world around them looked like a winter wonderland; everything was blanketed in white.

The weather had become so cold that neither of them were tempted to journey outside unless it was for work or to let their friends through the wards to allow them entry to their home. Despite their defiance as members of the Order Voldemort was openly interested in them now (they'd faced the evil man himself three times in duels and had gotten away with their lives each time) and it was not safe to live in a house that was unprotected. James and Hermione practiced this lesson well when they learned the fate of their friends the Bones family, slaughtered some two months previously for that very reason; they hadn't warded their house the night Voldemort himself had knocked on their door.

Hermione had seated herself in his lap and wrapped a blanket around them both to keep the chill out when she had told him, her voice soft but clear.

She was quite calm, all things considered. She stated quite frankly that she knew that it was only a matter of time before it happened and that she had honestly seen it coming. Though she held no stock in Divination she said that Harry's birth was something that was a set fixture in time; that the Boy Who Lived to Fight a War was always going to be born and that he was going to be special, no matter who his parents were.

This Harry, his and her son (for she was sure that their baby was a boy; Sirius and Lily despite being married not too long after graduation weren't pregnant and if Harry wasn't conceived by them then it was going to be up to herself and James to bring Europe's littlest hero into the world) and the Harry she once knew were both going to be and were brilliant, there would be no others like them.

The Harry that Hermione had known had been capable of great things. He was a brilliant wizard Hermione had told James and an amazing friend; a boy who loved like one couldn't believe and had stared death in the face and not been afraid. A boy who Hermione believed she had killed by falling in love with James. James tried to dissuade Hermione from this argument—you can't help who you fall in love with, you know?—but Hermione would adamantly disagree; everything had changed when she'd been stupid enough to fall back in time. It had taken a number of arguments for James to get her to think differently, and one night in particular when James had simply stated 'If your Harry had ever loved you then he would want you to be happy' for the internal dam to break and she had cried for hours. She had eventually asked James if she could name their son Harry too, for if she could've given her Harry anything in the world it would've been the love of his parents. And she hoped her love would be good enough. James had agreed. There was no name better.

And then there was their Harry, their Harry named after a hero James would never know, a little hero that he felt so unbelievably proud of currently growing inside of his love's belly. A little miracle who was so amazing in his own right; the most beautiful product of love that any couple could be given.

Hermione had rubbed her stomach as she spoke with a tenderness he had never been witness to before; a different kind of tenderness than the one she typically reserved for him. And the resolve in her eyes…by Merlin. Though James had always thought Hermione was beautiful the vision he saw that night eclipsed all others. Watching Hermione stroke her still flat stomach with a look that could make phoenixes cry James had never seen anything quite as stunning.

"I will protect you," he had whispered fervently, pressing his lips to her cheek. "Both you and the baby, I will."

And the resolve that stood so starkly and so fierce on her face earlier crumpled. Instead of the strong, wilful creature that he loved and so worshipped he saw a fragile young thing whose haunted eyes in stark contrast to her young face looked immeasurably older than her twenty-one years; she looked as if the fate of the world was resting on her shoulders.

Her bottom lip that he so loved to tug with his teeth when they made love trembled and those beautiful eyes of melted chocolate filled with moisture.

"Oh James," she had whispered wrapping her arms tightly around his chest. "I love you. So much." And she burst into tears.

"I think it's time we considered going under the Fidelius Charm."

Hermione, pale as a sheet, swallowed and hugged her stomach. It was slightly rounded now. "…You know how I feel about us using that charm, James. It's like tempting fate."

James nodded. He knew the implications of using such a charm, Hermione had told him one night how it worked when James had finally gained the courage to ask what had happened in the previous timeline.

She told him of Voldemort and his journey to take over wizarding Britain; of the heinous crimes of the first war and what happened during the second. She told him what happened to the Marauders, to him and to Lily and to baby Harry. She told him what she knew of his son's first years of life with the Dursleys, to meeting her and their friend Ronald and then to the journey they eventually undertook at age 17 to win. They won the war, in the end. Her Harry killed Voldemort and the world rejoiced but so many friends died. Hermione sobbed when she spoke of Remus dying, of her friend Tonks, of Fred Weasley who reminded her a lot of him and brave Colin Creevy, an underage boy who fought his way back to the castle and was killed in the crossfire. And then she finally told him how she travelled back in time; of broken time turners in Dumbledore's office and of Harry and Ron screaming her name as she vanished into nothing. James had never seen Hermione so sad then and it broke his heart. He drew his lover to his chest (she still refused to marry him despite his asking; 'ask me when this is all over,' she would say now) and hugged her as tightly as her stomach (and his courage) would allow him, murmuring sweet nothings to reassure both herself and him.

He shuddered to think that one of his friends betrayed him, it was so very wrong. Inconceivable. But his Hermione was no liar, everything she had ever told him (even in the beginning before he knew she travelled back in time) was always true. Though she had never said who had done it the first time it didn't take long for things to click. He knew Sirius loved him too much and Remus was too grateful and loyal to do anything so sinister; that left the only one he trusted his everything with and the only conclusion he could come to was that it was Peter who had done it. But what James couldn't figure out was why. Why would Peter, one of his best mates since he was eleven years old do him in like that? Where did he go wrong? Was he an awful friend?

In any case, after Hermione confirmed she was pregnant James found himself drifting further away from Peter and his friendship. He was not risking his family for a traitor. He would rather die first. Sirius never asked James why he was pulling away and Remus would have an calculating look in his eye. No, James wasn't guilty, he was not.

Sirius had cried and it had been one of the most touching moments in James' life when Hermione asked that he be godfather to their son.

Hermione had been about seven months along by then, her belly swollen with child and miserable as the temperature continued to rise with Spring. It had been she who had (quite vehemently) insisted that Sirius would be Harry's godfather—muttering something about caves and chicken bones when James had asked why. Not that James was complaining at all because hey, Remus could always be godfather to child number two!

"So we decided that you were going to be the best man for the job—Merlin! Are you crying, Sirius?"

A teary Hermione was swept into a careful bear-hug by Sirius and still holding her in his arms he moved to pull James into a tight embrace too.

"I'd be honoured," Sirius whispered quietly, pressing his forehead to his best friend's temple; his long hair tickling James' nose. "I would be honoured to be the godfather to your son. I already love him like he was my own."

And then James had cried, too. To know that there was someone in the world who cared enough about him to love his son as he did, to know that Harry would be okay if something went wrong. That there would be that extra person in the world to care for his greatest achievement in life.

Oh, how he hoped that it wouldn't come to that though, that Sirius and Lily wouldn't have to take in their son. What he wouldn't give for Voldemort to leave him and Hermione alone long enough so they could raise Harry and grow old together. But if Voldemort wanted to find them he would, he would do it somehow. Ignoring his fatalistic thoughts for just that little bit longer James took comfort in Sirius that day, took comfort in knowing the love he had for his best friend was reciprocated just as much. Dumbledore was right. Love was a very powerful thing.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" began Dumbledore, only for Hermione to continue for him, dismay in her face and tone, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other," Hermione choked and despair filled James' heart. No. No. No. He drew Hermione into his arms for support for both himself and her, burying his face into the junction between her neck and shoulder so he could cry quietly, he didn't want Dumbledore to see… "for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

"We don't know if Voldemort knows, James, Hermione."

James raised his head and openly glared at the Headmaster, poison spewing from his tone. "It's exactly the same, Albus! It's exactly the same as the timeline from before! Someone will have heard—how could they not when things have gone so fucking downhill!"

Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his temples. James thought he looked very old. "Until your young Potter," Albus smiled weakly at Hermione's swollen belly, "Or Frank and Alice's young Longbottom—"

"Neville," Hermione whispered, smiling. "They'll call him Neville."

James grinned fondly at Hermione before glancing at Albus. "Neville? Really?"

Hermione slapped the back of James' head and smirked when he yelped. "Yes, Neville. And he's one of the bravest people I've ever known so you hold your tongue James Potter!"

Dumbledore chuckled and Hermione flushed in embarrassment before sobering. "As you were saying, Albus?"

"Oh! Oh, yes." Dumbledore smiled genially before continuing, "My theory is as such. Until a child has been 'marked' or so to speak by Voldemort, the prophecy won't come into effect."

Both Hermione and James looked at each other in shock before turning to the pensive looking old man, hopeful grins gleaning on their faces. "You think?"

"Well, it is a hunch…"

"And your hunches are typically right, Sir." replied Hermione bluntly and Dumbledore blushed.

"You may say that, yes." the old man replied modestly and James grinned, hope dancing like butterflies in his stomach.

"So, what's the plan?"

Some nights, James would lie awake in their bed with a palm spread wide over Hermione's swollen belly, utterly awed that there was a life growing beneath her soft skin; a life that was half her and half him. He hoped their baby, their Harry, would have her freckles and her charming grin.

Some nights he stared at her stomach completely consumed with a terror that he'd never felt even when fighting for the Order or the Ministry. It was nights like these when he believed that there was no end in sight for this war, that the prophecy was looming ever closer and it was conspiring against them. And if something went wrong Voldemort would without a doubt find them and he would rather die than let his child live in fear, he would. He would be so, so scared that he wouldn't be a father worthy of his child that his love kept safe inside her, that he wouldn't or would ever good enough to protect his little hero. His son.

And it was those thoughts that kept him up at night.

Their son was born in the midst of chaos in their bedroom in Godric's Hollow and it was as if the weather outside reflected what was going on inside the Potter home. Hermione had screamed bloody murder in between contractions, crushing fingers and vowing that James would 'never touch her again!' all the while thunder rumbled and lightning flashed outside in a rare Summer storm.

It was Lily who delivered her godchild Harry Sirius (the man insisted and Hermione surprisingly found it 'cute') Potter, tiny and perfect and cursed with his hair; James could tell already and he had Hermione's cute little nose.

Lily swaddled his son after cleaning him off and with careful hands passed him to Hermione, the new mother's smile radiant as she cradled their child for the first time. James once again found himself eclipsed with the beauty of what he was seeing; his tiny family together for the first time and his breath caught. He longed to crawl into bed with the both of them, to gather them in his arms, press his lips to their foreheads and never let them go but he knew Hermione would want some time first. She carried their son for nine months after all and whatever James felt he was sure she felt ten times over.

"Hello, Harry," Hermione had sobbed hoarsely as she clutched their baby close to her chest. "Hello my baby boy."

Lily kissed James on the cheek, smiling warmly at him before she slipped quietly out the door to tell Sirius and Remus the news, the news that his son was born safe and beautiful (so very beautiful), leaving the little family all alone.

James looked at their son in Hermione's arms, a product of their exquisite perfection together and a love like nothing he had ever felt before flooded his veins; fierce and ardent—was this what being a father felt like? He had never felt so alive.

"James," Hermione whispered and without prompting James smiled through his tears and crawled into bed with the love of his life; the mother of his child and his newborn son, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and smiling down at their son who blinked at them with big blue eyes.

He reached out and gently traced his son's cheek; his vision blurring slightly. "Hello, Harry."

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

Hermione had always known that one day it would come to this.

That she would stand in the house that she and James had built, a place of love, laughter and life and she would fight for the lives of her husband and son against one of the most feared men Europe had ever known.

She had known that she would fight and she would die and Europe would be able to breathe again after she breathed her last.

She felt it when the wards on the house failed. When the magic that protected her and her family fizzled she knew that Peter Pettigrew had done what he was always destined to do; Voldemort would be coming and there would be no escaping for them.

While a gifted witch in her own right Hermione knew she stood no chance against the Dark Lord; things were going to play out just as it did before but hopefully her Harry (oh God, Harry) would not have to fight all over again.

Hermione didn't place much stock in Divination but some things she just couldn't deny.

It was fixed.

A child needed to be marked for Him to be beaten and she couldn't will such a task on Neville (no, she could never) and so Hermione developed a plan.

She had hidden the horcruxes long ago.

Instead of destroying them like she had initially planned she had hidden them deep in the Potter vaults with a note for James to be delivered forty-nine days from her death. The note would detail her mind and heart in ink and would explain what needed to be done. She needed to be sure that James would be able to destroy the horcruxes in the vault as well as the one that would no doubt be imbedded in their son as there was no soul better for this task.

James was going to survive this war.

Lily might not have been able to save him but Hermione would this time, her Harry would never have to grow up without the love of a parent even if that parent wasn't herself.

After being told the prophecy was to come into effect again Hermione had tentatively worked out a plan of action. It was at this point she knew everything would likely happen as it did in the original timeline, that the universe was going to correct its mistake in bringing her back and that she was going to die.

And if Hermione was going to die she planned on taking Voldemort with her.

She decided that she would be her home's secret keeper and she would be the one to 'accidentally' let slip the location to Peter Pettigrew. Frame a letter from James in an attempt to mend bridges and invite him into their home to meet their son. Her family on a platter, who could resist such an opportunity? Peter of course would be unable to resist and would then tell Voldemort what he needed to hear and the trap would be set. She was going to somehow get James out of the house the night she was to die and she was going to do exactly as Lily did. She was going to protect her son, infuse him with her life magic and beg for mercy. And despite her pleas Voldemort was going to kill her anyway, sealing his fate and the curse he would cast at her son would instead rebound back and end Tom Riddle's life.

She never told James or anyone for that matter what she planned to do. Her James was beautiful and reckless and he would be dumb enough to die with her, no questions asked. The same could be said for all of her new friends if she were completely honest with herself and she could not allow another person to sacrifice themselves for her, not as Mary Macdonald had done for her in the Winter of 1979. Things were the way they were and it was too late to turn back now. And while she knew it wasn't the best plan (there were too many extraneous variables to consider) it was all she could come up with. And she knew she loved her son and her husband enough. She loved them enough to die over and over again for them for the rest of eternity.

So she convinced James to visit Sirius and Lily's house that night.

She knew he was going stir crazy trapped in their home for months on end like they had been and one little night in with friends wouldn't change anything, right?

Harry would be safe as houses and sleeping through the night and Hermione would read Lord of the Rings in the living room and wait for him to come home.

James had been reluctant but Hermione was nothing if not persuasive (it was a gift and James was already smitten) and James had been forced out the door that afternoon following a hug for Harry and a lingering kiss for Hermione, disappearing under his invisibility cloak at the kissing gate. With the small crack that sounded James' apparition she realised she would never see her husband, the love of her life ever again. The time for tears would be for later but in the interim Hermione would spend her last hours with her son.

So on the afternoon of the thirty-first of October 1980 Hermione cuddled and played with her baby son, fed him his favourite for tea (mashed potatoes and carrots), let him splash in the bath and read The Tale of The Three Brothers before tucking him into his cot. When Harry was sleeping she cast the protections he would need to survive. It was borderline dark magic but Hermione had seen the effects to know they were potent and she would've done anything anyway to protect her son, the most brilliant thing she had ever accomplished in her life.

It was only when she let Karen the owl fly out to Pettigrew with her letter did she finally allow herself to break down with the realisation of what was about to happen.

Later wiping her wet face, she gripped her wand in her hand and sat in the rocking chair beside her son's bed, her paperback forgotten and waited for the end to come.

"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…"

Hermione stood in front of the crib of her son, wandless and arms outstretched with tears shamelessly falling down her cheeks. She stared into the red eyes of the man who would be her killer in front of her, ready for what was to come.

"Not Harry," she begged, "please no, take me, kill me instead!"

"This is my last warning-" Voldemort's high, cold voice rang out and Hermione thrashed her head.

Never. She would never surrender her son.

"Not Harry! Please, not Harry! No!"

"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"

Hermione shook her head wildly once more. The end had come and she somehow knew without really knowing that it was going to work. Voldemort was going to die with her. She knew.

Tears continued to slip down her cheeks and Hermione smiled as she thought of her family. Her beautiful husband and her miracle son, the two greatest lights of her life. The two people she would give her everything to keep safe. And she would. And so her final thoughts were of her family and the love she had for them; the love that was too much to contain within herself, that pushed from her pores, that overwhelmed her and when she again locked eyes with the man who has never or will never be loved, truly accepting her fate she was not afraid.

"Avada Kedavra!"

He wasn't ready for this.

He really wasn't.

"What have you got in this trunk, godson? Trolls? Merlin, this is heavy!" bemoaned Sirius as he hauled Harry Sirius Potter's trunk onto a trolley at Kings Cross Station, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow and blatantly ignoring Remus' snickers by flipping him the bird. Unfortunately enough for Sirius Lily had seen what he did and slapped him upside head.

"Dammit woman, don't hit me!"

"Stop acting like a child Sirius and I won't have to! What sort of example are you setting for Harry and Emilia?"

"But Uncle Pads has never set a good example for us, Aunt Lily." chirped Harry before turning to the ten year old daughter of Sirius and Lily Emilia Black, tilting his head and grinning. "Right Emmy?"

The scarlet haired Emilia snickered. "Right Harry!"

"You cheeky little sods!"

"They're the children of Marauders, Sirius," chuckled Remus, grinning at the two youngest of the group with distinct pride. "What more would you expect?"

"Some respect would be nice!"

While all this was going on James Potter silently watched the proceedings with a tight smile. His eyes lingered on his son the longest, searching his face hungrily and taking every feature in despite knowing that it would never be enough.

He wasn't ready.

It was September the 1st, 1991 and Harry Sirius Potter was going to Hogwarts today.

"So why didn't we just apparate onto the Platform again? We wouldn't have had to do any heavy lifting then! Could've just levitated it!"

"Don't whine, Daddy, Harry has to go the muggle way at least once, you know!"

"Oh Padgirl-"

"Don't call me that, Daddy or I'll get on that train and leave you behind too!"

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me!"

James, Lily and Remus both exchanged amused grins while Sirius shouted his misery and his young daughter told him to shut up as he was only embarrassing himself.

None of the small group mentioned the fact that there was someone missing; someone who should have been there scolding Sirius with her arms casually looped through the crook of James' elbow. Someone who should've been there to see off her son on his first day of school.

Hermione Potter née Granger (she finally did marry him in a tiny ceremony the August before she passed, dressed simply in a white Summer dress she'd owned for years in their front garden and she had looked so beautiful) had been dead and buried nine going on ten years now come October and James felt her loss keenly every day.

She had died a hero in the end.

The Woman Who Won and the Slayer of Voldemort they called her and there was a plaque forged from gold in her honour in the front garden of their old home.

Shortly after her death James and Harry had moved in with Sirius and Lily. For the longest time James hadn't coped on his own and the house that he and Hermione had built and loved brought back too many memories. And so James and Harry had stayed with the Blacks for many years, up until James had the courage to find a place of his and Harry's own. Harry had been seven.

Though James had Harry (and words could never do justice in describing just how grateful he was to Hermione for giving him his son; his son who was his guidepost and had her eyes, her freckles and her smile just like he'd always wanted) the light had gone from his life and he would never get it back.

Hermione was gone.

And if not for Harry James would've joined his wife long ago.

Sirius, seemingly abandoning his argument with his daughter instead turned to his godson again. "You realise that if you're not in Gryffindor we'll disinherit you, Prongslet." He said with a winning smile, ducking underneath the slap his wife directed his way with a chuckle. "But no pressure mate."

"Sirius!"

"Aw come on, Lily-flower, you know it's true!"

"No it isn't Harry, don't listen to your godfather. He's an idiot."

"I know that Aunt Lily, Dad tells me every day—"

"Oi! Prongs!"

"Excuse me," a young voice from behind James called and swivelling around to face the voice of the person who had tugged on his sleeve it felt as if a bludger had punched the air from his lungs. "But did that man just say Gryffindor? Are you going to Platform 9¾?"

It took everything James had in him not to burst into tears at the sight of an eleven year old Hermione Granger standing before him with two people who were unmistakably her parents behind her. Sirius, Lily and Remus were equally shocked into silence at the sight of a younger version of one of their best friends and Sirius was quick to grip James' elbow in a display of support.

"My family and I are a bit confused you see," little Hermione continued as if she hadn't just turned James' world on its axis, "we were given directions to get onto the platform but none of the instructions or the books I read told me whether or not muggles like my parents would be able to get onto the platform without my help and I don't want to do anything wrong as I'm a muggleborn you see and because you said Gryffindor which is one of the four houses I thought you could possibly help us if it weren't too much trouble?" She said this all very fast and in a way that brought everything back and James couldn't help but smile despite the tears that glittered in his eyes. "I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?"