Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

23 | surely someone will reach out a hand

Shakily opening the cover, the piece of parchment she'd tucked inside was still there, only this time, a new note was scribbled on the back.

Hermione picked it up and read the words: 'Astronomy Tower. Midnight.'

A relieved smile bloomed on her face. At least she'd finally caught Regulus' attention.

The Ravenclaw pulled out her wand and Incendio-d the letter before striding out of the alcove, anticipating tonight.

-ooo-

Hermione's eyes widened when Peter slid down on the bench beside her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, scanning the Great Hall in search of her best friends. She caught Lily's eyes as she was striding inside, her boyfriend trailing not too far behind her. The redhead's eyes narrowed in her direction, before pulling Severus towards the Gryffindor table, ignoring his protests.

"Can't I eat with my sister?" Peter snorted with a flourished eye roll.

Hermione frowned. "You never eat with me when we're at Hogwarts," she pointed out matter-of-factly.

"He and Mary had a row."

The brunette craned her neck and was surprised to see the other Marauders standing casually near the Ravenclaw table. It was Sirius who had spoken, seeing that Peter's glaring eyes were directed at him. The curly-haired Gryffindor ignored him and grinned, taking the seat across from Hermione. "It was fantastic, Whiskers," he said, "you should have seen it."

Remus greeted her with a small smile and clambered on the seat beside Sirius.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked incredulously.

Hermione instantly stiffened when James chose to sit on the vacant seat beside her. "The Gryffindor table is particularly sad without Wormtail," the bespectacled wizard joked, prompting Peter to lean towards him and smack his arm. Hermione, who was sitting between the rowdy boys, found herself leaning towards James, her right arm briefly pressing against him. Her cheeks instantly flushed red and she immediately moved away, managing to topple Peter nearly off his seat.

"Blimey, Hermione," her brother whined, straightening himself on the bench.

The other wizard beside her was silently shaking with laughter, his hazel eyes lit up in amusement.

Hermione noisily cleared her throat and focused all of her attention on Peter. "I didn't know you and Mary were going serious," she claimed.

Peter's cheeks flushed red and he moodily stared at his empty plate. "I'm not sure if we'll ever be going there anyway," he murmured under his breath.

"Nonsense, Petey!" Sirius gasped. "The girl's smitten with you. You should have seen how she was making googly eyes at you during classes. It was honestly sickening, but sweet." Sirius made a face. "But sickening."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," the sandy-haired boy said with a light glare, his cheeks dusted with pink once more. He slumped despondently on the table and sighed. "Maybe I was a complete buffoon a while ago."

"What did you do this time, Peter?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes.

Peter merely snorted and started gloomily piling food onto his plate. Hermione glanced at his friends, but James and Sirius merely shrugged their shoulders. Remus, surprisingly, was the one who answered her question.

"Something about meeting the family," Remus casually said, coolly spreading jam over his muffin. "I'm not entirely sure. There were a lot of groans from Peter and shrieks from Mary." The corners of his lips twitched in amusement. "You should have seen it, Hermione. It was bonkers."