Turn back time - Hermione Granger in the Marauders era

Chapter 14 - The end of term

The next day passed surprisingly quickly and smoothly. For once, almost all the teachers were in a good mood, and they gave the students relaxed lessons, even though they set a ridiculous amount of homework. When Hermione saw Sirius the next morning, he smiled mischievously at her - as if they were sharing a secret or something. James was a little more obvious. Annoyingly loudly, he boasted about Lily. And the replies to his shouts were choruses of cheers. It seemed that James had exaggerated everything slightly, because Lily was approached by a number of people asking if it was true that she's now going out with James Potter. Naturally, Lily was furious with James for letting the rumour spread, so she blatantly ignored him. However, Lily had whispered to Hermione in the dead of the night, about how she really did have a good time, and maybe Potter wasn't as much of a douche anymore as he had been before. Admittedly, Lily still acted like she hated him, but Hermione suspected that Lily secretly didn't really mind James that much.

If Hermione had been a tumblr obsessive modern day fangirl, she would have shipped it.

She was more focused on her best friend's love life than her own. She didn't see Sirius stealing quick glances at her every lesson, she didn't notice the way Sirius tried to act 'cool-er' when she was around, and she didn't realise that he had been constantly trying to take up conversation with her. But she did notice Remus trying to avoid her, she did realise that he was ignoring her and she did see that he never even looked at her. So, as it always goes, she only saw the worst in the good and bad.

On the last day of term, everyone said goodbye to one another. Almost everyone was going back to their homes for the break, including Hermione. She walked up the dormitory stairs for her trunk and a few of her friends walked past telling her to have fun. She waved goodbye to them, fetched her trunk (and Lily's) and went back into the common room where her closest friends were waiting. They dragged their trunks down to the Hogwarts Express, which was already crowded even though it didn't leave for another ten minutes. The four of them settled in their usual compartment and waited for the train to start moving. Hermione tapped the window sill impatiently as she waited for the train to start moving. Eventually, the whistle blew and they were off. Only the grounds-keeper was waving them off happily.

"Who is he?" Mary asked.

"I think his name is Hagrid." Lily said quietly.

"Oh, you know, I've seen him all the time, but I've never really noticed him." Mary said, sounding quite bubbly.

"He's got such a funny name... Hagrid..." Marlene giggled.

Suddenly, the door of their compartment opened and James and Sirius stood there smugly. Hermione jumped.

Talking about Hagrid? Yeah, he's caught us a fair few times." James laughed.

"Would it be so hard for you to knock?" Lily sighed.

"Would it be so hard for you to go out with me?" James muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Lily snapped.

"Nothing, nothing. Just marveling at your infinite beauty, madame." James said, and Sirius snorted with laughter.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him, but the faintest blush crept into her cheeks. Before James could call attention to it, Hermione interrupted.

"Any plans for your holiday?" She asked the both of them.

James shrugged and looked at Sirius.

"Mischief, I suppose." James said smugly.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'll just have fun being shouted at and running away from home." Sirius said, falsely lightly.

Hermione blinked at him, surprised at his bluntness. "How... fun. I'll just be celebrating Christmas." She said awkwardly.

"Yeah, like normal people." Mary said.

"Normal is boring. Where's the fun in being like everyone else?" James said happily. "Anyway, we just came in to say goodbye, adios, au revoir, whatever. Have a fun holiday."

"You too." Hermione said lightly, crossing her legs.

"Bye," Lily said shortly.

Mary and Marlene muttered their goodbyes quickly, as did Sirius. And, thank goodness, they left. Lily rolled her eyes after they'd gone.

"Bloody boys!" She snapped, curling into her seat.

"I'd rather deal with them than my family." Hermione sighed.

Lily gave her a sympathetic smile. "they'll be fine. And if you can't handle them, just come over to my house."

"Thanks," Hermione said. "I probably will."

AN: I suppose its probably quite weird of me to post a few REALLY long chapters, and then a really short one - so I'm sorry. But thank you for reading, I love you all Xxxx