Turn back time - Hermione Granger in the Marauders era

Chapter 13 - Slughorn's Christmas Party

Two days after that ordeal, James was let out of the Hospital Wing. The only remnants of the event was the scars from the gashes of the curse, which he shouted about loudly in the corridors, hoping some Slytherins would hear. Dumbledore, as well as the other teachers, were furious of course. They struggled to find the culprit of the curse, but now there was literally no way of finding the castor of the spell. Nevertheless, James accused Snape, and the second he was out of the Hospital Wing, jinxed Snivellus and then ran to find Lily.

At this said time, Lily sat with Hermione, Mary and Marlene, as usual. They were talking naturally of something or other, but their conversation was brought to a halt by James, who suddenly burst into the Common Room. It was just after lessons had finished, so the majority of the House was nestled in the Common Room. Naturally, James was greeted by cheers as he first walked into the Common Room after the Quidditch Game. A number of students asked after his health and that rubbish, that James answered nonchalantly. Sirius, Remus and Peter found him and asked the same questions, eager and friendly. Then he saw Lily with her friends sitting in the corner. He immediately went over to her.

"Alright Evans?" He greeted cooly.

"Potter. How are you feeling?" Lily asked, sounding almost genuinely concerned.

"I'm alright. A bit scarred, but, hey, at least I'm going to the party with you, right?" James answered gleefully.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh Merlin, I forgot about that." She lied.

"I'll be waiting here at seven, Evans. You won't let me down, right?"

"Fine. See you then," she groaned in reply, waving him off.

James smugly walked of, with Remus and Peter following quickly behind him. Sirius walked a few steps, so he was on Hermione's side of the sofa, then he lingered. Hermione looked up at him expectantly, confused.

"Hey Granger, do you want to go to Slughorn's party with me tomorrow? Just, I don't know, are you going with anyone? Cause I know you're already going, and I thought we just may as well go together, you know?"

Hermione gawped at him, unable to comprehend in the situation. Sirius Black was asking her to the party? He stared at her, seemingly cooly, but he was so nervous and hopeful. After a second of surprise and utter shock, Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, cool. I'll be here with Prong... James at seven to pick you up."

"Okay, great. See you then." Hermione said quickly as Sirius turned away after his friends, who were gawping at the situation. Hermione looked away, facing her shocked friends.

"What?" Hermione asked, and then she broke out in nervous giggles.

Her friends giggled too, and for the rest of the night they remained in constant fits of laughter. Not once that evening, did Hermione think of Remus.

The next day passed infuriatingly slowly. The lessons droned on and Hermione waited with eager anticipation for Slughorn's party. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it, nor how she should feel. Nevertheless, she told herself it was nothing. Just a tiny party that meant nothing. And to be honest, it turned out she was right...more or less...

At six o'clock, Hermione and Lily busied about in their dormitory. They put on the dresses, and fought with their hair. Hermione's dress was a beautiful deep red. It was the most stunning dress she owned, but seeing as she didn't have any other dresses, that wasn't really saying a lot. The dress wasn't too fancy, she didn't want to seem like she was making to much of an effort. Nevertheless, Hermione thought that it looked beautiful on herself and she loved the soft texture of it. And the way the bottom of her dress just brushed above her knees, so wonderfully gently. Hermione twirled away from the face mirror, to let Lily look at her own reflection. Lily was dressed in purple. It was a shiny dress, and it was quite stiff. It suited her perfectly, and it didn't seem overly fancy either.